


The Great Cell Phone Caper

by sinecure



Category: Community
Genre: F/M, Humor, Mild Angst, Romance, Sex, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-13
Updated: 2012-06-13
Packaged: 2017-11-07 15:34:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/432716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinecure/pseuds/sinecure
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Annie's cell phone gets locked away and she plans a break-in to retrieve it. Jeff catches on to her plans and goes to stop her, but gets roped into helping instead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Author:** sinecure  
>  **Disclaimer:** I don't own Community and I make no money from it.  
>  **Spoilers:**  
>  **A/N:** So, the Community Big Bang is here! This is my entry, through much blood, sweat, tears, and whinging.  
>  **A/N 2:** Big, huge thanks to na_thalia on LiveJournal for the beta--all mistakes are mine, don't blame her--and teruel_a_witch, also on LiveJournal, for the support and shoulder to whinge on.

CHAPTER 1

Annie stared at the closed office doors, trying to see beyond them, into the dean's office with her non-existent x-ray vision.

She _had_ to get in there, but her choices were limited.

She could walk in boldly.

Sneak in stealthily.

Or smash the side window, climb through the broken glass, grab her cell phone, and then run before someone caught up to her.

Okay, maybe she should just try option one first.

She reached out toward the double doors, wondering if an alarm would go off as soon as she touched the knob, or if there were motion sensors. Maybe armed chimps were waiting on the other side, with their crazy, insane eyes, fixed on any intruder, ready to--

"What are you doing? Office hours are over."

Annie yelped and pulled her hand back. Chang! Where the hell had he come from? Keeping her face turned toward the door for fear that he'd see her plans for going illegally into a space that she didn't belong written all over it, she sighed, trying to slow her racing heart.

Bright side? A fourth option had just presented itself.

"Chang, we're friends right?"

He snorted, but she plowed ahead anyway.

"The thing is... I need my phone and it's in the dean's office. So, can I just--"

"No."

"But--"

"Nope. Nada. Nuca."

She frowned and turned toward him, forgetting about what her face might tell him, because her guilt had been replaced by disbelief. This was the man they'd learned Spanish from? Really? "Nope, nothing, neck?"

"Okay, first of all, I'm not Chang-ing the subject because of any humiliation on my part--"

"Uh-huh."

"--I just don't want to talk to you any longer than I have to, because, let's face it, you're boring. Second of all, _no!_ No one gets into the dean's office when he's not here. Not even _you_ , boobs."

"Um, excuse me?" Wrapping her sweater tighter around her body, she pushed past being offended and moved onto annoyed. "But. I need my phone! I'm expecting a call. And," she glared at him, wondering where the somewhat rational, likeable... _almost_ likeable Chang had gone, "I helped you." Frowning, she looked him over from head to toe. He was in the security guard uniform he always wore these days.

It was torn at the shoulder and there was a golden brown stain on his tie and all down the buttons. Mustard? Ew, gross.

"What happened to you getting your degree, anyway?"

He rolled his eyes and stuck one hand on his hip, doing his 'attitude' voice. "I found something better, obvs.."

"Obvs.?" Great. Her choice for number four was slipping completely away thanks to a guy who thought he was a 12-year-old girl. "Look, Chang. Ben. Can't you just--"

"I already told you, no."

"Which, in regards to Chang, is probably for the best."

Annie darted a look over her shoulder as Jeff sauntered toward them, eyes glued to his phone. "Annie, how many times have I told you not to tease the zoo animals?" His eyes jumped to hers for a brief moment, smirk riding his lips, before returning his gaze to the all-important phone in his hands.

"Jeff. Not helping." Returning her own attention back to Chang, hoping to appeal to his sense of... something, she used her sweet voice, the one usually reserved for making-- _asking_ Jeff to do something for her. "Ben, please? It'll just take a second. In and then right back out again."

"Um...? Annie, are you propositioning Chang?"

Ignoring Jeff's question, she leaned closer to Chang, having to hold her breath because of the strong odor of cigar smoke wafting off of him. "No one ever has to know." Drawing back to save her nose and free her lungs from the nauseating taste of smoke lingering on him, she gave him a smile that she thought might've been more sickly than sweet, but hoped was more sweet than sickly.

"No!" There was no sympathy in his face, no understanding, just an annoyed glare. "Guess you should've thought about that before you kicked me out of your stupid study group."

"Um, we didn't kick you out. You were never in it."

Chang gasped, hurt appearing on his face. "You--"

"Technically, he was a part of the group for--"

Annie glared at Jeff, jaw tightening.

He backed away, hands held out defensively, though there was a roll of his eyes hovering on his face and a smirk riding his lips. He managed to refrain until she huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

She came very close to stomping her foot on the floor before she halted the movement; she'd vowed not to throw a tantrum again. Being a mature, adult college student meant not throwing tantrums. It meant being strong and independent and grown up. It did not mean acting like a little kid when she didn't get her way. She'd already done that once this year, so she couldn't do it again. Darting a quick glance at Jeff, feeling shame wash over her again at her behavior a few months back during the mock U.N. debate, she sighed.

A little huffing wasn't immature, right? Britta and Troy did it all the time.

And Jeff too!

"Fine, Ben. Fine. You could've helped me out and maybe gotten on our good side, but--" She held her hand to his face, palm out, halting the objections he wasn't voicing. "No. It's too late now. Forget it, you lost your chance."

Chang narrowed his eyes at her. "Whatever."

"Come on, Ben. Stop embarrassing yourself. It's too late."

He snorted. "Yeah, right, Miss Delusional."

But!

Reverse psychology worked on Pierce. It was how they'd gotten him to stop eating cookies for lunch. It'd been easy enough to convince him the cookies in the cafeteria were a new, healthy snack and that he should eat them as much as possible. Since he hated doing anything that made sense health-wise, plus being told what to do, he'd quit eating them on his own. It sometimes worked on Shirley, too, when they pretended to act really intolerant of the things that Shirley was strongly opposed to. It was practically in Shirley's blood and definitely in her nature to defend the attacked.

But it wasn't working with Chang.

Why wasn't it working with Chang?

"Annie, at the risk of getting a visual that I have absolutely no hope of scrubbing from my brain... why are you trying to sweet-talk Chang?"

"My phone!" She gestured toward the office doors. And she may have stomped her foot just the teeniest, tiniest bit. Folding her arms back over her chest, she turned from Chang's smirking face to Jeff's understanding one. "The dean used it this afternoon because his was making a weird noise and the battery was low and his office phone wasn't working for some reason. He said he needed to send out some really important text messages, and yeah, I'm just now realizing that he might've lied and probably race-texted again. I feel stupid, but I need to get it back! I'm expecting a call tonight that I have to take."

And she really, really wanted to throw a fit. But! ...adult.

Jeff mumbled something about going to Denny's.

She rolled her eyes at his inattention. Him and his stupid phone. Ignoring the fact that she was currently in a crisis over her own phone, she turned her doe eyes to Chang.

"Good luck getting it before Monday, because this hall is off limits."

She faced Chang at his taunting tone, feeling anger sweep through her. "No, it's not."

"It will be if I have anything to say about it."

"Which, thankfully, you don't."

"Hey!" He got in her face, though it'd been Jeff who'd goaded him. "Get it through your head; there's not a Chang in hell that I'm helping you, boobs."

"Knock it off, Chang."

Though she appreciated Jeff leaping... or, slouching to her defense, she really didn't need him to. She could handle this herself. Straightening her back, she stood tall, towering over Chang by at least an inch. "I helped you decide to go back to school so you could get your teaching degree. I helped you--"

"You got me fired!"

"Okay. And, while, yes, that is technically true, and for reasons that I really don't need to go into now, I--" She exhaled heavily and faced the dean's office again. "I just need to get in there!"

Chang burst out laughing. "Not gonna happen, B. of A., not. Gonna. Happen."

"Chang, don't you have other students to harass or maybe some garbage to roll around in? Seriously, there are wavy lines coming off of you, Pigpen."

"Shut up, Winger!"

"Uh... no." He put his phone away finally, giving them his full attention. "Why don't you just let her in, let her get her phone, and be done with it?"

"I don't think so. The dean has one rule when he's not here; no one goes into his office. No one."

Annie whimpered. "But it's in there." She threw her hands out from her sides, gesturing to the dean's office again.

Jeff shrugged, heading toward the double doors. "So, let's go get it."

Annie only hesitated for a split second before following him. They'd done worse things in their time at Greendale, surely the dean would understand. He'd promised to give her phone back to her before he left for his weekend 'seminar', which she suspected had more to do with the furry outfit that'd been hastily shoved into a bag by the door than any seminar for deans, like he'd claimed.

"Stop right there, Jeff. Or I'll Tase you."

Jeff spun around at that, turning incredulous eyes Chang's way. "They gave you a Taser? Is everyone in this school deeply stupid?"

Annie gave him a little, rapidly-nodding head movement that said 'duh' in all 50 states. And parts of Canada. Because, duh!

He acknowledged her with a small nod, conceding the point. "Of course. Giving the lawsuit-waiting-to-happen a Taser is perfectly in line with this place." Stopping, he crossed his arms over his chest. "My fondest wish is that, when I'm practicing again, I can sue the pants off of--"

"Jeff! This is still our school, and I know it's been... strange, weird, difficult, odd, dangerous at times, freaky, and just-- did I mention odd? But school pride! You can't sue Greendale." She gave him a look under her lashes that was meant to convey comradeship, but she had the awful feeling it came across as flirty.

Sometimes that happened around Jeff.

"I mean... right? The butt-flag and nobody craps in it but us? Um, the school, not the-- and, and the paintball prize. Not to mention the dean's little freak out--"

"Little?"

"Okay, major freak out over the commercial, which, I might add, you did too. So."

"Relax, Annie. I was going to say 'Chang', not the school. Of course, if the school gets implicated a little too..." He shrugged carelessly.

Chang dropped his hand from the Taser holstered at his hip and swaggered over, getting in Jeff's face as much as he could from his significantly lower height. "Whatever. Why don't you and your little girlfriend--"

"We're not--"

"We're not--"

"--go flirt somewhere else? I have work to do, rounds to make. Important stuff." He glared at both of them in turn. "And I don't wanna catch you 'round these parts again." He tipped an imaginary hat at them, then turned and left, smacking into the fire extinguisher on the opposite wall. "Damn it! How many times have I told them to move this thing? God!" He strode off down the hall, leaving Annie and Jeff staring after him.

"What a moron."

"Yeah, but he's our moron."

"Uh, no. That's taking school pride a Grand Canyon too far."

Sudden sanity returned and Annie remembered that she still didn't have her phone. "Crap!" And then, in a tiny voice, "My phone."

"Just reschedule the call, you can use my phone. Or, I don't know, cancel or something? Problem solved."

"It's not that kind of a call. I can't just--" She eyed the doors, wondering if there was a way to slip a credit card or something in there to break in. They used to do that in the old days, she'd seen it a lot in the old movies and tv shows Abed watched. She could just slip her Greendale ID into the slot and--

"Annie?"

Right. She shouldn't. She shook herself, still eyeing the door. She shouldn't. Wouldn't. Definitely couldn't.

But the window around the side....

Jeff sighed next to her. "You're planning a break in, aren't you? And, while that may _seem_ like a fun, madcap way to spend a Friday night, let me tell you what'll actually happen; jail, bad marks on your record, never getting hired--"

Snapping her attention back to him, she smiled, though it was brighter than it needed to be. Wider. "I-- no. Of course not, Jeff! That'd be... dumb." But easy. The dean's office window was on the south side, not completely visible to the street, or to--

He turned toward her with a quick spin, then grabbed her arm, drawing her down the hall a few steps. "Stop it."

"What? I'm not doing anything. You're the one dragging me away like a kid. Will you stop that?" Jerking her arm free, she smoothed down her sweater sleeve.

"Then stop acting like a kid." He leaned closer, and she had to fight to pay attention to what he was saying because his lips were so close and he was directing words at her instead of kisses. "Annie, you're not breaking into the dean's office. Chang is just looking for an excuse to Tase someone." He stared at the school with a mild frown before returning his attention to her. "What the hell is B. of A.?"

Annie sighed and wrapped her sweater even tighter around herself. "Boobs of Annie. He started calling me that last week. I don't know why."

Jeff's eyes resolutely stayed on her face, though they dipped down as far as her chin before he caught himself and jerked them back up. His mouth tightened and he moved back a few steps. "Oh."

"You're still here?"

They both jumped at the sound of Chang's voice behind them.

"It's after school and you've already gotten together with your study cabal. Go home."

"No." Jeff rolled his eyes and crossed to the office doors, trying the knob.

"Hey!"

It didn't budge but he shook it a few times anyway. Chang darted over to him, grabbing his arm and hauling him away. Jeff, being a good foot and a half taller, went along with an amused smirk.

Annie's plan solidified.

 

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

Jeff was pretty sure Chang had hurt himself dragging them out the door, which was the only reason he'd allowed him to do it. It amused Jeff to see Chang trying to act as if he had the control, as if he were in charge.

Annie's distracted manner, however, did not amuse him.

He had a pretty good feeling that he knew what she was planning since she couldn't seem to drag her eyes away from the admin building. Secretive, she was not.

Once Chang yanked the door shut behind them, dragging and pulling on the handle to close it quicker than it wanted to close, Jeff turned to Annie.

"Don't even think about it."

"Yeah, yeah. Monday. See you for the diorama, studying, books."

"Annie."

She jerked out of her mini trance and looked up at him innocently. "What? Oh, pssh. Doesn't matter. I'll just... get my phone on Monday, I guess." She turned her mouth down, shrugging in a helpless manner.

The gesture was so phony, he'd think she couldn't act. But he knew better. He'd seen her in action in that regard, several times. He stared her down silently.

"So." She pointed behind them to the parking lot. "I'll-- there's a thing on the radio that I wanted to read. You should go home. See you on Monday!" Turning in the direction her finger was pointing, she started toward the parking lot.

Staying where he was for just a moment, he watched her look over her shoulder three times in six steps, then headed after her with a warning call of her name.

Her pace quickened, hands tightening on her backpack straps.

Catching her easily enough with his longer strides, he halted her in the middle of the lot, somewhere between his car and hers. A few straggling students milled around here and there, but most were gone. If he hadn't had to return for the study sheets currently folded in his pocket, he would've been long gone too.

With no clue that Annie was planning a B&E.

For Danny? Stupid Danny; flirty, charming Danny. It irritated him the way she was always smiling at him, like he was just so interesting that she couldn't help it. Whatever.

Jeff was interesting too, he'd been a lawyer for god's sake. He had stories.

Most of them involved 9/11 and drunk drivers, which, admittedly weren't the funniest of stories in and of themselves, but the way he told them....

Annie tried hard to look innocently up at him, but ended up looking flirty instead, something he was sure she wasn't aware of. It was cute.

But. To business.

"Annie. Listen to me very carefully. If you break into the school--"

She gave a high-pitched, offended gasp. "What?" Faux offense traipsed across her face. "I'd never--"

"--you could get arrested. Or Tased. Chang isn't stable."

"Neither are you, apparently, because I'm not planning on breaking into the school. Pfft! I'm not stupid. I know what could happen and I'd never do anything like that."

"Like what? Chance the career that you mapped out for yourself when you were two? Because that's what could happen."

For a second, he thought he'd gotten through to her, but then she plastered that smile on her face again, the one that screamed loudly, for anyone and everyone to hear, that Annie Edison was fine and thanks for asking! Which, she clearly was _not_.

"Good thing I'm not doing that then, right? Because I'm not stupid, Jeff." She started toward her car, giving him an indulgent look over her shoulder, as if he was just the most adorable thing she'd ever seen for worrying about her, but, gosh, golly, gee, it was all for nothing.

She was completely innocent.

Yeah, _right_.

He watched her unlock her car. Watched her start it and drive off with a small wave. Then watched her leave the nearly empty lot with a last look back at him.

Completely innocent.

"Yeah. Right."


	2. Chapter 2

Jeff rolled his eyes as Annie ran the last few feet to the admin building, ponytail swinging behind her. She kept darting glances around, checking for observers, though she missed him every single time. He'd driven to the school just before dark, parked at the corner of the street, almost out of view of the school, and waited.

Just after the sun let go its last gasp of light, Annie's car pulled into the lot, as he'd known it would.

She hadn't seen his car, which just made him shake his head.

Observant.

Another ridiculous mistake was parking in the lot, though he had to give her points for parking at the back, deep in the shadows, and not beneath one of the streetlights. Although, that would've been _safer_.

A minute passed before she got out and quietly shut her car door.

She was dressed head to toe in black, including gloves. He was pretty sure she was wearing a twin of the black body suit she'd worn for her Dia de los Muertos party, minus the glaringly white bones. As she turned to the side, staring at the admin building, he was able to see just how very tightly it clung to her skin and had a moment in which he needed to take a breath.

To just breathe naturally, not shallowly and harshly like his lungs tried to make him do.

After a few seconds, he got a handle on the lust. Controlled it like usual. Just like he always did.

He drew in a deep breath as Annie suddenly crouched down beside her car, then darted across the lot, heading straight toward the admin building. Once there, she dove into the bushes, legs and feet disappearing last.

A short bark of laughter left him when her head popped up a second later, darting this way and that, like a Whack-A-Mole gone rogue, though they rarely had ponytails that slapped them in the face.

She was stealthy, too.

Getting out of his car with a sigh, he headed across the lot, sticking to the shadows as much as he could, but not snaking around like Annie had. He felt ridiculous enough having to come here to stop her from breaking into the school. Although, really, his perception of what was ridiculous in relation to what was sane was much more warped than it used to be since starting Greendale.

He made it to the administration building just as Annie started fiddling with the window. It looked like she had her student ID out and was trying to slide it under the bottom of the window, which was just above a height that was within comfortable range.

A smirk lifted his lips as he approached.

He stopped a few yards away, amusement washing over him. The sight of Annie trying to pick a window lock with an outdated tool given the newer windows, and the fact that she was sliding it in the wrong spot, was enough to make him snicker.

She spun around at the sound, arm out, ready to hit him. He'd learned his lesson not to startle her last year. They all had, but he was safely out of her reach, so she only ended up ineffectually punching air.

"Jeff!" She slapped a black-clad, gloved hand to her chest--as tight and formfitting as her clothing--breathing heavily, looking reproachful enough to make him feel the teensiest bit guilty for scaring her. "What are you doing here?" she whispered harshly, leaning toward him so she could keep her voice low. Glancing quickly around, she moved closer. "You need to go. You're going to get caught."

"Me? You're not exactly Thomas Crown out here, Annie."

"What? I so am, too!" She began fiddling with the window again. " _I_ know Chang's schedule. I know he's going to be coming by here again in--" she glanced at her arm, shoving her stretchy black sleeve up and her glove down, "oh, no." She shoved the window up--how the hell had she gotten it open? Though he suspected it hadn't actually been locked in the first place--half-turning away, half crouched, unable to decide what to do.

Her fears were starting to assert themselves, which was good, because--

She grabbed him by his t-shirt. "Chang's going to be by here any second!"

"I seriously doubt--"

She slapped her hand over his mouth, startling him. Eyes wide above her hand, he started to pull it away when he heard distant, crunching footsteps and saw a bobbing flashlight beam play across the parking lot. Chang was around the corner--the beam was long enough that Jeff knew he was only a few yards away--and heading toward them. Jeff lowered Annie's hand slowly, fighting her tightening grip. Shaking his head at her, he rolled his eyes, held his finger to his lips and then pointed to the window.

Shaking her own head in confusion, she started to hunker down, but Jeff grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up with a pointed look at the window. Annie twitched and moved around making him nearly drop her before she curled her fingers around the sill and pulled herself up. Splitting his attention between Annie and Chang, Jeff struggled to keep his hold on her.

They were in an awkward position, one that got worse once she managed to pull herself up halfway through the window then stopped, hanging there, feet swinging free.

The flashlight's beam was closing in on them.

Crap.

Darting a glance at her, then at Chang's approaching light, then back to her, Jeff used his shoulder to press her gently to the wall while he reached up and cupped her ass, propelling her up. A squeak of a noise left her, making him grin.

She glanced at him over her shoulder, eyes wide, urging him to push harder while chastising him for grabbing her so intimately. It only got worse. She began to slip backward because she wasn't paying attention and he had to scrabble for purchase against her seamless and smooth bodysuit. His hand slipped, sliding between her legs, pressing against parts of her that he'd fiercely kept himself from thinking about for three years.

Sort of.

Almost.

Okay, he'd thought about them, and dreamed about them, and fantasized about them, but he'd never let it go further than that and now he'd touched those parts.

His fantasies were going to be even more intense, which meant his feelings--

"Jeff!" she hissed, urging him to push her up again. She was still hanging partially in the window, partially out. "Help?"

Taking a deep breath, he grabbed her ass with his other hand and, ignoring the feel of her soft, firm thighs--probably milky white under all that material--he shoved hard.

She flew up, flopping through the window with a loud, 'oomph!' as she landed.

Chang appeared around the corner just as Jeff ducked down. Chang's eyes searched suspiciously around the lot and the surrounding beds of bushes and flowers. "Hey! Who's there?"

Jeff settled on the chilled ground, waiting.

Chang would give up, walk right by, and then Jeff would wait patiently for Annie to get her phone. Then, he would forcefully put her back into her car and send her home, hopefully with no one the wiser. All of this for a stupid phone call. It'd better be one damn important call.

And not from Danny.

Ugh, he was sitting on damp soil. She owed him a pair of jeans, or at least a washing.

The window above him slid shut, making a noise that sounded loud in the empty night air. Jeff stayed hunkered down behind his bush, which was just tall enough to cover him as long as he stayed hunched over. There was a row of them, lined up neatly along the small bed under the windows, which ran along the entire side of the building.

If Chang bothered to check against the wall, he'd see Jeff, but Jeff was banking on Chang being an idiot, a bet he'd win every time.

"I heard you!" Chang yelled, voice echoing in the darkness. "I know you're there. Better come out now before I-- vrrrm-vrrrrm."

Jeff nearly laughed aloud at the sound, which, to his somewhat nerdy ears, sounded a lot like a grown man making Light Saber noises. Seeing the flashlight beam dart this way and that, Jeff knew Chang was moving it like a Light Ssaber.

Slapping a hand over his mouth, he waited out the laughter and Chang's dares to any Sith who might be lurking.

"Yeah. That's right." Chang sniffed self-importantly. "You don't wanna mess with this Jedi... _master_!" There were a few grunts and groans as Chang passed Jeff and he could see Chang making strongman poses.

Wishing like hell he had a camera, Jeff desperately tried to dig his phone out of his pocket, but by the time he managed it, Chang was gone, which was probably for the best since the flash and the noise would've alerted Chang to his position. Besides, once the pictures got back to Chang--and they would've since Jeff would've shown them to every person he'd ever known--it'd have been obvious Jeff had been here and he'd get expelled.

Best not to take any chances. Shutting his phone off, he held his hand over the speaker until it shut down, then shoved it back into his pocket.

The window opened a second later.

He stood up as Annie stuck her head out, a wide grin and laughter spilling from her lips. 

She opened her mouth to say something, but Jeff beat her to it. "Yeah, but he's _our_ moron."

"Can you imagine life without Greendale?"

"I do every day," he said dreamily, keeping one eye out for a returning Chang.

She rolled her eyes and hung out the window. "You should probably come inside before he comes back around."

"Just grab your phone and let's go. I don't wanna be caught here if he comes back with the sword from the stone."

Frowning, apparently forgetting they were in the middle of a B&E adventure, she said, "You mean Excalibur?"

He just couldn't leave it at that. "No. Excalibur was given to Arthur by The Lady of the Lake-- never mind. Just get your phone!"

She pointed at him with a smirk before disappearing back inside. "Nerd."

She was right. As much as he denied it, he was a big nerd. He collected comic books. He knew the names of all the characters in the first three Star Wars movies--the other three didn't exist in his mind--and he was crushing on a hot schoolgirl. Couldn't get much nerdier than that.

"Keep an eye out for him." The words were whispered harshly from somewhere inside, but Jeff was already turning and facing the back lot, watching out for a Taser-happy Chang headed their way.

60 seconds later, he heard footsteps running their way. "Shit." Returning to the window, he called harshly to Annie, keeping his voice low. "Annie! Chang's--"

She popped out again, eyes wide. "He's early!" Peering one way, then the other, she stared at the bobbing beam of light headed in their direction. Reaching her hand out, she waved at him to take it. "You need to get in here."

Jeff didn't want to. He _wanted_ to hunker down and wait, or leave the school behind entirely because all of this was causing a headache that, to his own dismay, he recognized as a stress headache mixed with a sense of panic-slash-urgency.

A feeling he hated.

"There's no time to get out of sight!"

"Damn it." Grabbing her arm, he jumped up as the footsteps grew closer--it would only be a few seconds before Chang rounded the corner again--feet scraping on the brick. He should've jumped up without her help, because now he was stuck as she'd been. Her body half-fell out the window under his weight, but she gamely held on, leaning back inside, struggling to move backward as far as she could.

"Jeff!" Her voice was so high it nearly pierced his eardrums, but quiet enough that maybe Chang hadn't heard it.

"Hey! Who's there?!"

"Damn it!"

Releasing his arm, she grabbed the back of his shirt and hauled him in while he used the wall under his feet and the frame of the window for leverage.

Just before Chang came around the corner, Jeff flew through the window, legs kicking out behind him. He and Annie landed in a heap on the floor, but she had the presence of mind to roll them over and reach up from above him to lower the window most of the way, though not completely.

Her hand dropped just as Chang stopped under the window. She lay above Jeff, arms bracing her on his chest as she tensely waited.

"Hey, get out here! I know you're in there. I saw--" He grunted, and Jeff turned his head to see Chang's shoulders and head rise to the lower pane, then disappear. A second later, he appeared again. Then again. Preceded by a grunt each time.

Annie squirmed above Jeff, drawing his attention to her and only her.

His eyes landed on her face and he tried desperately to stay focused on her eyes, or the way her ponytail was draped over her left shoulder, but she was busily biting her lip, looking worried.

His attention dropped down to her mouth.

This wasn't the most ideal position for them to be in at the best of times. Times when he was able to control his lust, which, around Annie, were beginning to dwindle. The last time they'd ended up like this, Annie and the dean had been trying to teach him a lesson, but the dean was nowhere in sight tonight.

Annie had been under _him_ then, and he'd been in control of the situation, able to move away from her at any time. He'd climbed off of her so fast then that he'd left her gaping at him.

This time, he was underneath _her_ and she was firm and soft above him. Plastered against his lower body.

It made him think about each and every individual part of his body that she was in direct contact with. Like a teenager making the rounds of all the porn sites, Jeff felt his body begin to respond to her.

He was alarmed, though, to realize that it wasn't just her body that was arousing him, it was Annie herself.

Unexpected physical stimuli was easy enough to control most days.

But she smelled fresh and flowery, like vanilla and roses, with a hint of spice.

Her hair, caught on her shoulder, hung around her ear, like an artful drape of dark cloth, reminding him of what she was wearing; dark and stretchy and a feast for his eyes. Like black licorice; one of his guilty pleasures.

Thinking of guilty pleasures and black licorice made Jeff remember the taste of Annie's kisses, the feel of her lips as they moved under his, the play of her tongue. He was experienced; he'd been with enough women to know that his feelings for Annie were fueling his arousal in ways he was unfamiliar with. Memories and scents, flashes of laughter and sparks of flavor.

"...Jeff?"

She didn't say his name so much as breathe it, which drew his attention right back to square one.

Blinking back the haze of lust, he shifted beneath her, hoping she hadn't noticed him hardening. It was difficult enough keeping his distance from her. This had the potential to become very awkward and would drop even more barriers between them and she'd push it. He knew she would.

Chang continued hopping up, trying to get a look inside, keeping up a running commentary the whole time.

"Come out."

Hop.

"I know you're in there."

Hop. Hop.

"You're not fooling anyone, idiot!"

Hop.

Jeff wanted to laugh and squirm at the same time. The urge to shove Annie off of him was strong, but with the window partially open and Chang acting like a maniacal acrobat, they had to stay where they were.

"Come out of there!"

Hop. Hop. Hop.

"I know it's you, Jeff!"

Jeff frowned, staring at the window. How the hell did Chang know it was him? "Lucky guess?" he mouthed to Annie.

She shrugged with a wince.

Holy crap. No more asking her questions, because that movement had been too delicious and he wanted to feel it again.

"Oh, come on! Like you could actually stop yourself from helping Annie in her quest for her phone. You're like her knight in shining Armani."

Chang didn't hop this time.

Annie smiled a soft little smile at Chang's words, and Jeff didn't bother to deny it. It was a well-known fact that he had a soft spot for Annie and a penchant for running to her side when she needed him. Or when he thought she might.

He folded his hands under his head with a small shrug of modest acknowledgement. Usually, the heroism was thrust upon him, but sometimes he took the bull by the horns on his own.

"Everyone knows you've got the hots for her, Jeff. That you're the..."

Jeff tensed under Annie.

Hop.

"...white knight to her damsel in distress..."

He wanted to sit up.

Hop.

"...and you've got some weird sense of chivalry going on..."

He wanted to dislodge her from him.

Hop.

"...because you wanna jump her bones..."

He wanted to dislodge her from him while Chang told the absolute, unvarnished truth.

Hop.

"...but you're too chicken shit to date her."

She went almost as still as he had.

Hop.

"Ugh! Why don't you give the rest of us a chance?"

So much so that she could've been a statue lying atop him.

Hop.

"Not that I'd _want_ to!"

Hop. Hop.

Jeff forced himself to settle back on the floor of the dean's stupid office, forced himself to release the tension in his frame, because Annie could feel every move he made and he didn't need to confirm anything for her. This was not the time or the place. He tried to play it off by rolling his eyes and sneering in Chang's direction, but it came off more as a half-heartedly embarrassed look.

Annie's cheeks were turning pink along with what he could see of her neck in the high-cut body suit she was currently poured into.

"Even Star-Burns knows it, Jeff. And Leonard!"

The truth was hard to take, but coming from Chang it was downright painful.

Shaking his head at Chang's words, he scoffed quietly. Then rolled his eyes. He wanted to do more, but he figured he was already overdoing it as it was, so he settled for staring at the ceiling.

"And Annie! You follow Jeff around like a puppy dog."

Hop. Hop. Hop.

"It was cute at first, but now it's just pathetic!"

Annie's lips turned down in a thunderous frown and she tried to sit up, but Jeff quickly grabbed her hands. She jerked hers free and slapped at him, so he wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her down on him. Not ideal but better than the alternative.

"Stop it," he whispered in her ear, and felt her shudder. From anger, or from his breath in her ear? His voice softened a little. "He's just trying to get a rise out of you."

"I know what he's doing," she whispered back harshly but she stayed still, only moving to breathe. "But that doesn't make it any easier not to want to go out there and deck him."

"No, it doesn't," he agreed, feeling the urge to do so as well. The disgusting thing about it was that he wanted to do it on Annie's behalf more than his own.

But Chang wasn't finished.

"I mean, come on! That display you put on during the mock U.N. thing? I didn't actually see it, but I heard things."

Jeff held tight to Annie with one hand as she, once again, struggled desperately to get up. Luckily, she was too angry to realize that she could verbally respond, since he was only restraining her physically from jumping out the window and attacking Chang.

He solved the problem by pressing a hand lightly to her lips, feeling the warm dampness of her breath on his palm. He immediately regretted the move. But he had to make sure she stayed quiet. Getting caught at this juncture was out of the question, especially by Chang of all people.

Annie glared furiously at him, but finally sighed and relaxed after a few seconds.

Of silence.

Crap. Where was Chang?

"Chang?" he whispered to Annie, nodding his head questioningly toward the window. _Crap._ What if Chang had wised up and remembered that he had keys to the school and all the offices?

Annie's eyes widened as she came to the same conclusion.

"Get your phone." Jeff kept his voice low still, just in case Chang was only pretending to have left, and began to roll out from under her.

She fell forward, catching herself with her hands on either side of him.

And feeling what he'd tried, at first, to keep from happening. Then, when that'd failed, what he'd tried to keep her off of. Now, she was in full contact with his growing hard-on.

Yeah, still growing.

Fuck.

Their eyes met and he felt the pull of her. The draw of Annie. It was always there, but tonight, something else was present as well, he just didn't know what it was.

She leaned down, as if she couldn't stop herself. All he wanted in the world just then was being freely offered. Lust rose higher in him.

Snaking a hand around the back of her neck, he pulled her down for a deep, soul-searching--if he believed in all that romantic bullshit, which he didn't--kiss. Until he remembered Chang. Sitting up, he grabbed her arms, halting what promised to be an epic kiss.

If he believed in all that bullshit.

Which he _didn't_.

"Phone. Chang's circling around."

She sat staring at him for a few precious seconds.

"Annie!"

Snapping to attention, she got to her feet, pulling her phone from a pocket he hadn't known she had. "Already got it."

He stared at her, wondering what else was hidden in the stretchy, black cloth. Aside from every creamy inch of her skin... and judging by how perfectly the material molded to her perfect body, he'd say, nothing else.

"Jeff!"

Crap.

He got to his feet, standing in the middle of the office, staring from the door to the window. "Why didn't you just leave with me when we had the chance?"

She stared at him as if he were two. "Because Chang was coming and the parking lot is nothing but open space?" Her voice was just filled with 'duh'.

"There are bushes," he whispered back, voice full of just as much 'duh'.

"I--" She shrugged and he saw her eyes slide to the closet in the corner. "Okay, fine, I thought I had time to look through the dean's stuff. I mean, have you seen his costumes?"

Jeff stared at her.

She gave a little annoyed shake, halfway to stomping her foot before she halted herself. "Chang wasn't supposed to show up again for another ten minutes! And," she stressed, obviously wanting to deflect attention off of herself, "he's on his way now. We have to get out of here." She crossed to the door and peeked into the outer office.

Letting it go for now, he shook his head and rubbed his forehead. Welcome, familiar headache, welcome. "All right. The window," he started to say, heading in that direction, but then he realized that, as she'd said, they'd be in full view of anyone and everyone who wanted to look out any of the windows in the school and since Chang now knew someone was here--or at least suspected--then they should probably keep a lower profile than they had coming in.

Joining her by the door, he groaned silently. They'd have to go out the door and slip quietly out of the school.

With him sporting a hard-on.

Perfect.

Avoiding her gaze, he slipped through the door, wanting to be ahead of her rather than behind, though it really made no difference at this point; she'd felt what he was trying to hide. He gestured to her to follow him just as a door slammed shut a few halls away. Feeling a sense of urgency rush through him, fueling him, he left the offices and headed into the hall, looking around for the best way to go, but what if all the exits were locked?

"Jeff!"

Turning to Annie, he saw her opening a door down the hall and slipping inside.

He could either stand there and get caught or slip into the supply closet she'd gone into. The cramped, dark, perfect-for-sex closet. He'd used enough of the closets on campus by now to know that this one would be perfect for getting them into more trouble.

Loud footsteps clomped on the floor, heading their way. He could see Chang's bobbing flashlight beam.

There really was no choice.


	3. Chapter 3

Hurrying down the hall, Jeff slipped inside the supply closet and pulled the door shut just as Chang rounded the corner and ran past them. This night was all about near-misses. Leaning his forehead against the door, he breathed a sigh of relief. Annie brushed against him and he felt her hand press against his back.

He should put a stop to that, because touching was another thing that would lead them straight into trouble. With Annie, it was hard to draw a clear line of when to stop and how much was too much. Generally, if he was left breathless, that was a pretty good indicator of when to stop.

Turning, he came face to face with her forehead. "Annie." His tone was sarcastic, and he was about to follow it up with a smartass remark when he glanced past her. There wasn't a whole lot of 'past her' since the entire closet was filled with boxes.

"It's chocolate." She moved a hand between the inch of space separating them. "Want one?"

Glancing at the chocolate bar she held up, he shook his head. "I'll pass." Pressing tight to the door, he felt panic rise in him. She was too close. This was a bad idea. The entire night was a bad idea taking horrible shape before his panicky eyes.

It was a terrible, terrible habit, but Jeff found himself inhaling her scent whenever Annie was close enough for him to do so. She had different perfumes, different lotions, shampoos, and other products she put on every morning, but underneath all of that was a familiar scent that was all Annie.

Every time he was near her, it was there. He'd begun to think of it as Eau de Annie Naturel. Tonight, she smelled like spicy vanilla and roses, but it was still there, as was the scent of chocolate. But all he could really focus on was Annie.

Annie.

Annie.

Annie.

And his already aroused body really, really liked that scent.

When she turned to put the chocolate bar back, her hair tickled his nose and he caught his breath. Bad idea, too close, clear indicator.

Annie.

Annie.

Fucking Annie.

He wasn't sure if he was cursing her or expressing a desire.

"We should go," he said desperately, looking over his shoulder. There wasn't a window in the door, though, so all he saw was wood. Thank god, or Chang would've already caught them.

Was that less desirable than being pressed like sardines into a tiny closet filled with one of the world's most addictive natural aphrodisiacs? Hell, no. At this point, to save his sanity, his dignity, and his friendship with one of--one of?--his best friends, he'd gladly have run out the door and surrendered, even to Chang.

But Annie's future was at stake, too, and there was no way in hell he'd purposely get her caught.

And then, to top off their imperfect adventure, Chang came back, talking loudly, taunting him and Annie, going on and on and... on.

"Hey, Annie, did you know that Jeff looooooooooooooves you? Ugh! It's sickening the way you guys look at each other. And it's obvious Annie's all about the Winger too."

Jeff kept his eyes on the boxes piled up behind Annie, but he felt her hand settle back on his stomach. There was the slightest tug as she caught his shirt between her fingers, not to get his attention, but to share in his embarrassment, to calm him, to remind him that he wasn't alone.

At least, he imagined that was what it meant, because it was what he wanted to do for her.

Which was the problem.

He'd do just about anything for Annie, and that scared him. He was Jeff Winger, the uncaring, soulless lawyer. At least, he used to be. But now he was changing, and what he was changing into scared him. Putting other people's needs and wants ahead of his own was a foreign concept to him. Used to be, he stressed to himself.

Used. To. Be.

Right now, he'd give a lot to be at home, tossing back a beer and watching a game of some kind. Any game, he wasn't picky. He didn't follow anything out of interest, only to keep up with the latest talk, to be able to be knowledgeable about something. To keep-- why the hell _did_ he watch soccer, for god's sake?

Considering he was trapped in a closet with the girl he'd been lusting after for more than two years, it seemed pretty inconsequential.

All while Chang spit out more truth than Jeff had in those same two years.

Being faced with Annie and the truth of their feelings hit him hard, but the fact that he liked it and wanted more, and that he was getting harder at the thought of how completely Annie was in his heart, that was more difficult to take.

His eyes dropped to hers as she tipped her head back to see him.

She was begging him to kiss her without saying a word. He didn't even think she was aware of it. It was just there, in her eyes, in the way her lips twitched when she dropped her gaze to his mouth. He found himself licking his lips and leaning down.

"Of course, before you, it was Britta, so maybe he just wants to go through your whole stupid group. Maybe it's gonna be Shirley next! Well, Winger, I had her first!"

Annie dropped back on her heels, puffing her cheeks out as she exhaled, gaze landing somewhere in the vicinity of Jeff's chest.

He could, quite easily, kill Chang right at that very moment.

"I'm gonna kill him!" she hissed, echoing his thoughts, gearing up for a fight. She tried to push Jeff aside, but he stayed stock still.

He leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Just ignore him. He'll go away eventually and we'll make a run for it."

"Nobody talks about Shirley that way."

Jeff nodded, though he'd thought her righteous indignation was for herself, Britta, or maybe even him. Shirley, of course, had nothing to do with any of this, which... would be why Annie was angry on her behalf.

He kind of loved her for that.

Fingers twitching on her elbow, he stared at her.

It was just an expression, that was all. Of course he loved her. He loved all of them, the entire study group, both as a whole and as separate people, as friends. It wasn't like he'd specifically meant Annie.

Except that he had.

But it was just a general declaration of love for a friend.

Except that it wasn't.

Holy crap.

He didn't believe in that shit. Love was something shared between family and/or friends, it wasn't meant to be spread to random people he was attracted to. He loved his mom, his friends, his job, and... Annie.

Fuck.

"Jeff." She tugged on his shirt, gesturing to the door with her head. "Is he gone? I think he's gone. We should leave while we can."

"We probably won't get far." Turning to face the door, thinking it might be written in bright red ink all over his face that a fairly major revelation had just occurred to him, he took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, then did it again. "No more cowbell."

"...what?"

Surprised he'd said that out loud, he shook his head with a soft chuckle. "It's-- never mind. I think you're right. He's too quiet out there." He glanced back over his shoulder at her, smiling when she straightened her spine and put on her game face. Was it a wonder that he--

Time to go.

"I'm gonna check," he whispered, opening the door slowly, quietly, barely moving it. "Be ready to run like a bat out of-- crap." Chang was just down the hall, checking each doorway, peeking through each door panel. He yanked one open, went briefly inside, then came right back out, shutting the door behind him. Then he crossed the hall and did the same with the next classroom.

Pulling the door shut again, Jeff turned to Annie. "He's checking the rooms, heading this way."

Annie shifted, shoes scraping on the dusty floor. "We could run, then split up. He can only catch one of us."

"No." There was no way he was splitting up now. This undertaking--over a stupid cell phone--had become his personal mission, one that he would see through to the end. And the end was to not get caught, especially by Chang. Even if the call was from Dumb Danny. Taking her by the arms, he stared intently into her face. "We're getting out of here. I'm not letting Chang take us alive."

Her lips twitched. "Okay, Thelma."

He made a face at the reference. "We stick together, Louise. You got that? To the end." He turned and held his hand out.

She took a second, then put her hand on top of the back of his. "To the end." It was a sad, two-person vow, but they made the most of it, whispering 'break!' and then sharing a stupid grin.

"Okay, he's on our right, so, we go left. Okay?"

"No."

"We don't have time to--"

"Jeff... there's a vent right across from us!" She was smiling, still staying quiet, but in an excited way. She even hopped a little.

"Uh..." The vents weren't his favorite place in the school. "Those are Chang's old stomping grounds. We should probably avoid them."

She grabbed his shirt, grinning up at him. "We can hide in there--he'll never know. I mean, he hasn't even seen us yet, and for all he knows, there's no one actually here--and then we move to another hallway and escape. Ta da!"

Solid plan, unfortunately.

And Chang _was_ closing in on them. "Fine. To the end...." He inched the door open and checked Chang's location. Three doors down. It'd be close, but he could see the vent clearly from his position. It was maybe six feet from their closet. Nodding to her, he wrapped his hand around her wrist and glanced back out again.

When Chang went through the next door, Jeff yanked the closet door all the way open, pulled it shut as fast as he could, then dove across the hall, drawing Annie with him toward--

Crap!

Smooshing himself into the space between the drinking fountain beside the vent and the wall, he swung Annie around to the space on the other side. They crammed in as Chang shut the door of the room he'd just checked. Their eyes followed Chang as he crossed the hall to the next door.

Feeling adrenaline rush through him again, Jeff caught Annie's eye and darted his own to the vent. She nodded, looking close to terrified. As soon as Chang opened the next door, Jeff and Annie ran toward the vent.

He pried it open with his nails and shoved Annie inside, not even bothering to enjoy the feel of her in his hands for the brief moment it took before he was following her. Luck was with them, because Chang came out just seconds after Jeff pulled the vent closed. It snicked shut quietly, though Jeff would've bet money that Chang's ears perked up.

Pressing Annie forward with a hand to her back, he very quietly crawled along the metal floor behind her. Bad memories were in here, memories of how fucked up he'd become in one day. One day without his friends. He'd become a savage. Being on the outside looking in was a place he never wanted to be again.

"Hurry," he whispered, feeling a tingling on the back of his neck. It was just adrenaline and the fear of getting caught, but he felt like Chang _knew_ they were in there.

Like he could sense them invading his old territory.

Annie crawled gamely on, black-clad ass right in his line of vision, swinging from side to side as she went. He probably should've gone in first. This was... not ideal. Just as they reached the bend, Chang's flashlight beam cut the darkness. Jeff jumped on Annie as she turned to look back. He pressed her flat, half-sprawled on top of her.

She gasped, just the tiniest sound, but he wrapped his hand around her mouth, holding it tight, warning her with his eyes not to make another noise. Wide eyes watching, she shifted under him.

It was stupid for either of them to pretend his erection wasn't there, so he didn't even bother trying. He ignored it as much as he could while plastered to Annie's soft, warm body. Firm. There wasn't a lot left to the imagination with her shapes and curves tight against him, but his mind pressed for images of her skin, the feel of it, the smell, the creamy color of each individual arm, leg, breast, dip of shoulder or back...

Adrenaline pumped through him faster. He could feel her heartbeat against his chest, pounding out a rapid rhythm that matched his.

"I know you losers are here," Chang shouted angrily, snapping the moment between them as surely as a rubber band pulled too tight. A door slammed against the wall and Chang's footsteps grew louder.

He was almost to the vent.

"Go," Jeff whispered in Annie's ear. When she didn't move, he drew back to ask her why.

She was staring at him pointedly.

Right. He was on top of her.

"Sorry." Climbing off of her, body screaming at him to stop, he glanced back over his shoulder. Chang's flashlight was still close by, but not shining into the vent yet.   
There was no doubt in Jeff's mind that he would look in there sooner or later.

With the way Annie had to shimmy and adjust to get past him and then back on her hands and knees, Jeff was amazed that he didn't let slip the moan that grew in his throat and--

Enough!

He was an extremely experienced man, he'd been with countless women. He could control his damn libido.

Closing his eyes, he pressed the heels of his hands to them, counting to ten. When he re-opened them, he was in control again. His libido was still raging, but he had a firmer, tighter rein on it. It wasn't like he wasn't used to controlling himself around Annie.

For more than two years he'd done a mostly decent job of it.

He chose to blame his recent struggles with his libido on the Glee Club. Life, since then, had been considerably harder.

On an almost nightly basis, in fact.

His imagination was pretty thorough and complete when it came to those memories. And who could blame him? Annie was always beautiful, even with mascara tracks running down her face, or claiming she'd only kissed him to be cool like Britta. She'd still taken his breath away. And almost broken his nose. Twice.

It somehow made her more attractive, knowing that she could, and would, take care of herself and damn anyone who got in her way. Including him.

But he was willing to hurt Annie just as much as she hurt him. Not physically, but emotionally. He'd hurt her a lot. Lashing out, his therapist--and Britta--called it. And every time he lashed out and hurt Annie, he felt like he'd kicked a puppy.

A puppy owned by The Littlest Cancer Patient.

"Jeff!" Annie's voice hissed back at him through the tight sectioning of ductwork.

Blinking at her, he realized he'd zoned out at some point, because suddenly they were at a crossroads. Annie was kneeling ahead of him, looking over her shoulder. Irritation lined her mouth and eyes. She must've been trying to get his attention for a while.

"What?"

She frowned, but gestured to the three different directions in front of her. "Which way?"

Listening for Chang, he tried to orient himself. One straight, one right, a left, and--

"Wing- _er_! Come out and play-yay!"

Rolling his eyes, Jeff wiped sweat from his forehead. It was warm in the vents. At least there was no monkey gas. "Up, toward the library."

She frowned and shook her head. "What? There's a fan, or a blower or something. I can't hear you."

Holding a finger to his lips, he crawled closer to her. "Library." He kept his voice low, just in case it traveled.

Annie shook her head again, frustration plain on her face. Wiping sweat from her own brow, she dramatically gestured to each tunnel, then shrugged.

"Wing- _er_! Come out--"

Jeff tuned Chang out as he reached Annie. Her skin was damp, glowing. "Beautiful," he murmured, ducking is head immediately after he realized what he'd said. Holy crap. What was wrong with him tonight? "Library," he said clearly.

"Which way is that?" Her voice was low, but loud enough to be heard over the blowers.

Jeff came up behind her, trying to see past, but the duct was too narrow for them to crawl side-by-side. Satisfaction and hunger battled in him at his thoughts. Obeying them, he pressed into her body to look beyond her.

He'd lain under her, held his body over hers, and been surrounded by her hugs and friendship, but he'd never purposely crawled behind her while she was on her hands and knees, never pressed his hips to her ass. Never done that and then leaned over her back, pretending it was the only way to be able to see down the vents.

She could've moved, but she didn't.

He could've pointed out the way without touching her, but he didn't.

He'd never felt the warmth of her body this... intimately. She went still. Then slowly turned her head to look back at him. The heat in her eyes matched his.

She shifted and they both sighed.

Licking his lips in the suddenly dry atmosphere, listening to the whump-whump-whump of the blowers, Jeff made a decision. He would not take advantage of--

She pressed back on him, rocking just a little. Enough to re-awaken his arousal, as if it'd ever really gone away. Decision reversed. Settling lower over her back, he quietly, but loudly enough for her to hear, told her to go left.

She shuddered.

Nodded.

But neither of them moved an inch along the vents. They did, however, move slowly with one another. Jeff let his eyes slip shut as his breath shuddered out.

"Left," he breathed, hand rising to curl around her stomach. He held her against him. "Then right."

"Right," she agreed, fingers curling around his. Her ponytail hung down over her right shoulder and he buried his nose in it. Inhaled.

Something heavy and solid formed in his stomach and chest at the scent. Familiar. Comfortable. It made images of him and Annie pop into his head. His apartment. His bedroom. His bed.

Wishful thinking.

Both of them were naked. Annie giggled breathlessly, while holding his head to her chest. He slowly, lazily, kissed his way down her chest to her stomach, teasing and tickling the entire way. Her fingers threaded into his hair, lightly tugging. A simple, easy smile curled her lips up.

"I love you."

The words echoed in Jeff's head, reverberating with every whump of the fan blades. He felt her under him, felt his body responding to the words. Felt...  
...just felt. Like home.

_I love you._

She rocked back against him, ass cheeks cradling his cock. And that suddenly broke him out of the foggy haze of lust. He sat back with effort, ignoring her disappointed whimper. As he did, he saw Chang's flashlight beam cut through the darkness around them.

"Go," he urged, pushing Annie forward.

She stared back at him dazedly.

"Chang!" he mouthed, tilting his head back toward the hallway they'd come from. Her eyes widened and she started crawling quickly forward.

She was making too much noise.

"Shh!"

He hurried after her, not daring to breathe until after they rounded that corner and then the next one. They sat with their backs against the side wall.

_I love you._

It rang in his ears and he jerked his head her way to see if she'd heard the words too. She didn't freak out or stare frightfully around them, so he forced himself to relax.

All right.

This was just one more thing for him to handle. His job kept him busy, his schoolwork kept him _just_ this side of not-insane, and his personal life... well, lately, it consisted of sporadic one night stands.

Eyeing Annie, he wondered why he went through all of that when he could just give in and be with her. He wouldn't have to work so hard to avoid situations like this and the major stress involved in pretending he didn't lust after her would disappear.

Would she even want to be with him though?

_I love you._

The words, whispered softly but with such conviction, sounded almost musical. Lyrical.

He wanted to hear them for real. But would she--

"Earth to Space Cadet Winger... come in, Winger."

Jeff blinked, jerking back a little at the sudden appearance of Annie's fingers in front of his face.

She giggled, showing no more signs from their erotic session than flushed skin and a slightly heavier than normal breathing pattern; both of which could be attributed to their adventure.

He caught her hand and held it for a second before releasing it. Her eyes were on his, brow furrowed, maybe sensing the change in him and wondering what it was.

"We should..." She pointed down the vent. "Jeff--" She licked her lips and tried again. "Jeff, how do you just turn it off?"

He blinked at her. "What do you mean? Turn what off?" He was pretty sure he knew what she was talking about and it wasn't the fans. After all, he'd led her to believe, over the years, over and over again, that she had little effect on him, though the opposite was actually true.

"Us. You. Your feelings. Your bo..." her eyes dropped to his lap, "...dy. Oh."

He chuckled, past being embarrassed. After tonight, things were going to be different between them, he just didn't know what shape it would take. Awkwardness? Embarrassment? Maybe an easy acceptance of their feelings? He was kind of hoping for that last one. "I don't know how to turn it off, Annie." He used his thumb to rub at a smudge of dirt on her cheekbone. "And I'm not even sure I want to anymore."

Her eyes softened, lips parting.

Two loud bangs echoed in the walls and they jumped apart guiltily. What the hell was there to feel guilty about?

"We should go."

Rolling his eyes at the entire situation, Jeff nodded. "We probably should, before Chang decides to come in after us."

"You think he knows we're in here? Wouldn't he have already come after us if he knew?" She headed off, following her own sense of direction now.

"Probably."

"Jeff!" Chang again, speak of the evil little troll doll. "You think I don't know you're here, but I do. I can _smell_ you."

"Ew."

"Ew."

They hurried on, quietly, but quickly, trying to stay ahead of where they thought Chang might be. He started singing two turns in and by the time they made their fourth turn, he was butchering Aretha Franklin.

"Chang-Chang-Chang. _Chang-Chang-Chang._ Chang of tools. Vrrrrmmm."

Jeff's head drooped at the Light Saber sounds again. Chang was taking nerdiness to the next level.

Five more turns and they made to it the vents just around the corner from the library.

Annie rounded the last corner to the study room, then jerked back with a gasp, hands over her heart and mouth. "God," she muttered, closing her eyes in annoyance at herself. "He's out there." She darted a glance back around the corner. "Ah! He's in your chair!" She made as if to go after him, but Jeff pulled her back with a chuckle.

"It's... sweet that you want to defend my chair's honor, but after all of this, this entire night, I am not about to get caught because of a piece of furniture. And I won't let you get caught for it either."

"Right. Not getting caught. He's just got his stinky Chang-butt all over your chair. Not a big deal."

Jeff opened his mouth to tell her to screw that, because Chang was so dead, but Chang beat him to the punch. "Your chair's not so special, Winger. Just. Like. You."

There was a sudden crash and as Jeff and Annie peered around the corner, Chang's flashlight shone in the vents.

Annie gasped and tried to crawl away, but Jeff put his finger to her lips and glared at her, holding her still. She shook her head and shoved his finger away. Pointing down the vent, back the way they'd come, she started that way.

Jeff pushed her flat, keeping her there. He was _not_ going to get caught! Neither of them were. Moving up to her ear, he whispered, "Just stay here."

She shook her head frantically, eyes wide under the-- oh. His hand was on her mouth. He dropped his hand to the vent floor beside her head.

"We should go back."

Leaning toward her ear again to counter that they shouldn't, he suddenly became aware of the fact that he was sprawled on top of Annie.

Crap.

His mouth forgot how to formulate words, but his body didn't forget how to respond.

Annie was watching him silently.

It was with very little surprise that he felt her hand on the back of his neck, felt her knee raise and then settle over the backs of his legs. There was absolutely no surprise that, when he glanced down at her, lit in dimly reflected moonlight and fluorescents from the study room, he found himself saying what he was thinking.

"You're so beautiful, Annie." It was a whisper, barely recognizable as his own voice, torn from his throat with raw feeling.

But it wasn't just that though. It wasn't just physical beauty that he saw, it was Annie, all of her.

And when she kissed him, he felt only pleasure and arousal, not surprise. She was warm and soft and firm, tasting of sweat and dust and lip balm. He'd never tasted anything, never felt anything, never smelled anything better than the woman he had in his arms.

He moaned her name, which made her shudder, so he did it again. Feeling her melt underneath him, he kissed her harder, took more from each press of lips, each nip of teeth, each sweep of his tongue.

She moaned and it was the sexiest thing he'd ever heard. The insistence of his cock grew, straining against her. Rocking, he repositioned himself between her legs, hissing when he came to rest cradled between them.

"Fuck..."

"Ditto," she growled, hands clawing at his hair, hips rocking up.

Holy crap.

When had the gloves come off? He saw them lying discarded beside them, tossed aside. Her pale, white hands touched his face, then scraped down his back again. Everywhere he wanted her to touch, everywhere he craved her hands, they were there.

She was making it harder for his control to keep up, so he just stopped trying. He had Annie. Finally. Exactly how he'd wanted her for nearly three years. There was no way this would go slowly. Sliding his hand between them, between her legs, he rubbed her, shivering with pleasure at finding the material of her bodysuit damp. His other hand cupped her breast, finally feeling something he'd merely fantasized about.

Soft and firm.

It was when he pinched her nipple that he realized she was moaning loud enough to alert Chang to their position.

"Shh..." he groaned, wanting nothing more than to hear her moans for the rest of his life, even if that was all he ever heard again. "Chang."

Her eyes flew open and Jeff gasped. So blue and deep, filled with so much lust and need.

But... fuck!

"Next time, you can be as loud as you want, god, I beg of you to be as loud as you want, Annie. But Chang's still out there. And this thing isn't coming off easily," he lamented, pulling at the stretchy material before letting it snap back into place. His eager eyes watched it shape and reform over her chest.

"Maybe not," she breathed, "but we can still make it fun." Excitement flared in her eyes.

A bead of sweat ran down his temple.

Annie wrapped her other leg around his and pushed, trying to roll them over, but couldn't quite manage it in the small space, so he did it for her until she was on top of him, settling over his cock.

"Holy fuck, you feel good."

"What happened to your silver tongue?" she teased, looking pleased at his lack of control.

Nibbling on her ear, he husked out, "It's pouting because it doesn't have access to what it wants most right now." His finger curled up against her clit.

Her eyes closed, body shuddering over his. "Jeff, that's not--"

"Appropriate? Any way to talk to you?" He grinned, knowing neither of those things were what she meant.

" _Funny_ ," she stressed, leaning down to whisper the words directly into his ear, which shot directly to his cock. "You're a tease, because now all I can think about is your tongue." She licked a path from his ear to his jaw. "Licking. Lapping. Flicking. Sucking." She shifted over him, giving him some much needed friction. "And all I want to do is lick, lap, flick, and suck..." she paused, lips hovering over his, eyes intent, hot, on his, "your cock."

Jeff lost it; all semblance of his control fled. Hearing Annie say words like that during the D&D game was one thing. Although, that'd fueled a number of confusing fantasies as well, but hearing her say those words now, in this context... while she was riding him and barely wearing anything, was almost enough to make him come.

He sat up, taking her face in his hands. "Take it off." Her brow lowered for a split second before he explained, "This." He pulled and rubbed and caressed the stretchy fabric over her stomach, her legs, her chest. "I need you, Annie. I--"

He was having trouble breathing without panting.

"Oh, crap, I want to be inside you." He bucked up into her, holding her down so she felt how much he needed her. "Now," he added, breath shuddering out.

"Here? But it's--" She twisted to look around them and Jeff groaned, losing the last thread of his control. He wanted to tear at her bodysuit, but all he could do was roll them back over and grind into her like an oversexed teenager. He thrust on her again and again.

She keened, clawing at his back and shoulders, lifting her hips to meet every thrust. "Jeff," she moaned. "Make me come."

"Fuck, Annie. Fuck."

She reached down between them, brushing his erection with her fingers. Grunting, she shifted under him, moving around, this way and that.

Finally, panting she took his hand and led it to her--

"Holy. Crap." He felt her folds, hot and moist and swollen.

"There's an opening," she panted, arching under his eager fingers.

He stroked, rubbed, circled, caressed, and flicked her clit and folds, wanting nothing more than to get her off with his fingers right then.

Except maybe to use his mouth.

Or ffffffff-- fuck her? That didn't sound right. Make love to her?

Yes.

He wanted to make love to her the way he'd been fantasizing about for almost three years. He'd lied to himself and pretended he hadn't wanted to, but he did. So much. Leaning down to kiss her hard, gratefully, he raised up, giving her own eager fingers better access to his jeans. She whimpered with so much lust in the back of her throat that it made his cock twitch and his hips buck.

Which made her make more noises.

Which made him react.

They were in an awesome circle of pleasure.

She licked her lips, leaning up to kiss him. "Now, will you fuck me?"

"God, yes." He was reduced to reactionary phrases, a place he'd only ever been once before, just before Christmas, with Annie. Diminishing returns? Maybe. But holy hell, he'd been so aroused that it'd only taken a little urging to get him to turn. Because he hadn't wanted her to know that she'd affected him so damn much.

Now, here he was, once again reduced to reactionary phrases and close to coming in his pants.

She tore open his jeans, freeing his cock while the jangle of his belt was still ringing in his ears. Relief sprang through him along with intense pleasure. "Now, I'll fuck you, Annie," he mumbled, spreading her legs and taking his cock in hand.

She thrust up as soon as he had the tip positioned, sliding him deep inside in one blissful movement.

Somewhere in the background, Jeff heard the thumping fans. Lower than that was Chang, rambling on and on. But all he felt was Annie. All he heard above the background noise was Annie's breathing and his own. His fingers were full of her, his cock inside her, and his mouth drawing in her breath.

She moaned thickly and Jeff went still.

He couldn't move. If he did, he'd come. It was as simple as that.

"Jeff," she whimpered, bucking into him.

"Annie-- fuck! Don't--" Too late. He began to move, thrusting into her hard and fast, no pace, no rhythm, no control. She tightened her legs around his, then moved them up around his ass, arching under him. Rising and falling and sliding and teasing. So much friction and pleasure and--

His body began to buck against hers and she moaned, long and low.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," he hissed, face flaming hot, veins filled with fire and honey.

Too soon.

Shit!

Nails clutching him everywhere, she rode out his orgasm, slamming her hips against his, squeezing and clenching around him. He bucked and thrust and rocked, burying his cock deep inside her as he came and came, feeling like he'd never stop, though, in reality, it didn't last long enough to cover his embarrassment.

Warmth and pleasure met halfway, taking over every nerve ending and making him shudder.

Making his body go stiff as a board, pressed inside her.

It wasn't until he relaxed a minute later that he realized Annie was patiently waiting for him to recover.

Lifting his head, he kept his eyes on her chest as he began to rub her clit, desperately rub her clit, hoping to at least get her closer to coming before he went soft.

Fuck!

He hadn't embarrassed himself this much since he was 17 and came on Suzy Jenkins' leg, unable to actually get inside her before he was coming. She'd said it didn't matter, that she still wanted to go with him, but he'd been unable to get past it and dumped her a week later. He'd given himself the nickname Jerk-Off-Jeff to remind himself of that night every time he was faced with a woman and the pressure it entailed.

He hadn't had a screw up again until tonight.

Dropping his head to Annie's shoulder, ashamed and angry with himself, he continued to rub her, fingers moving quickly.

She cradled his face in her hands, lifting him so he was faced with his humiliation. "Jeff--"

"Don't," he ground out. "Just... don't."

Kissing him softly, she smiled against his mouth. "Not that I want it like this every time, but it's actually kind of flattering."

He scoffed, but she didn't blink or look away. "Yeah, real flattering having a guy come like and inexperienced teenager."

"Inexperienced teenager, or you wanting me so much that you couldn't control yourself? I choose to believe the latter."

Something grew in his chest, making it tight. "You're serious."

"Duh."

Feeling relief and tenderness rise in him, he tried out a small smile and it felt all right. Annie was nothing if not generous and his ego needed that right now. Kissing her softly, he raised up, slipping free. He continued to rub her, watching her face the entire time. Watching _her_ control slip away, feeling her nails scrape and claw for purchase. Seeing her eyes steady on his as she bucked and rose and arched under his hand.

The words.

He wanted to hear the words.

"Jeff, I-- oh, god, faster, faster, please, Jeff! I need-- god!" She arched and stayed there, hovering for a moment, panting and gasping, words flowing from her lips along with sounds he could listen to for the rest of his life as ecstasy showed on her face. His name left her a few times, eyes desperate on his. Then a long shuddering sigh escaped her and she collapsed.

Her face was flushed red in the dim light, her hair wild about her face, and he was wild about her.

The words.

They were there, he could _feel_ them.

Cradling her face in his hands, he pressed his lips to hers, forehead to hers, body to hers, flush with every inch of her that he could touch. Breathing her in, he felt his chest lighten.

The words were in the air between them.

"I love you."

So, he said them.


	4. Chapter 4

It was just as scary as Jeff had imagined it would be, but the words felt just as good as his fantasy-mind had imagined. And the tender, stunned expression on Annie's face was better than the feeling he'd gotten test-driving his dream car.

He felt winded and exhilarated, full of warmth and happiness... full of Annie.

"Jeff, I--"

The fans shut off suddenly and her voice reverberated around them.

They both went still, eyes wide. Then scrambled to right their clothes.

He sat back to fasten his jeans, tucking his cock and underwear back in awkwardly. "Crap."

"You can say that again." She was frantically rearranging her bodysuit, which was just as tight and formfitting as before. "Chang--"

"Shh!" He peered around the corner, blinking in the bright moonlight, peering through the library entrance, then darted back. "He's asleep!"

"What?" She laughed, straightening her ponytail.

Jeff darted forward and kissed her, lingering for a minute. His hand found her cheek and settled there. When he drew away, they were both smiling.

Her hand released his biceps. "When we leave here, are we going to go back to the way things were? Because, if we are, I'm prepared to live in these vents for the rest of my life. And possibly take you prisoner."

He laughed, a truly deep, happy sound. "You don't have to change your address. I wanna do this thing between us. Whatever it is. I'm... uh, committed, I guess. Besides, doing _this_ might become noticeable after a while." He kissed her slowly, then breathed words against her lips. "Not kissing you has always been hard, but now...." Another lingering kiss. Then another.

Her eyes were bright and dancing. "Good."

And that was all she had to say on the matter.

She turned serious, darting a quick look around the corner at Chang. "We can get out now. While he's asleep. The entrance isn't locked." She pulled her gloves on one by one, flexing her fingers and glancing at him.

"Obviously he wants us to have to use that door. I say trap."

She shrugged, shaking her head. "Maybe. I can try it and see."

"No, I'll go." He would help her get out of there a free woman if it was the last thing he did.

"Chivalry _isn't_ dead," she said sappily, rolling her eyes. "You know you don't always have to rescue me, right?"

"Yes, Annie, I realize that." Fighting his natural instinct to do just that, he smoothed the wrinkles out of his t-shirt. "But that doesn't change the fact that--"

"I mean it. I'm fully capable of--"

"Annie." He took her arms, trying to impart the seriousness of the situation on her. "You have to make it out, no matter what. I'm expendable--"

"No, Jeff. No." She took his face in her hands, kissing him softly, but he could see a little acceptance there as well. "I won't leave you."

"You have years of school ahead of you. Grades, transfers... I can take the bad mark. You can't."

"Jeff." Her pleading voice made him smile.

"Just tell me this is all worth it. That your phone call is important." And not from that stupid idiot that wasn't worthy of her smile.

She shifted in place, just a little, smile turning down.

His heart stopped for a second, but he brushed off the reaction. "Hey, Louise." He held his hand out.

Her smile was a little sad as she clasped his hand in her own, holding them both to her chest. "Thelma."

"It's time I took one for the team."

She nodded, smiling with resignation, that same look she'd had a minute before, as if it were all inevitable. "I love you, Jeff. And I'm not just saying that because our situation is pretty dire. I really mean it."

He smiled, heart feeling curiously warm and... full, and light. Kissing her one last time, he savored the feel of their first post-I-love-you kiss.

What had happened to not believing in that shit?

That was a question for later.

With a last look at her, feeling like he was leaving her behind so that he could face the feral wolf, he headed back the way they'd come, Annie's words echoing in his head. They sounded even better than his own fantasy words. He was loved.

A grin stole across his face.

"Jeff!"

Pausing in mid-crawl at the sound of Annie's hissing voice calling to him, he glanced over his shoulder. "Annie?"

She crawled up behind him suddenly, eyes bright, excited. "Chang's definitely asleep. His phone went off and he didn't even flinch."

"He _is_ a deep sleeper." He thought for a second. "That I know that is disturbing."

Her hands flailed a little. "We should make a run for it."

Jeff opened his mouth, but Annie had already made up her mind. She was halfway down the vent already. Ass shaking.

He wasn't going to be able to get hard for a while, but it wasn't going to be for lack of wanting to. Following after her, he watched the sway of her ass, mesmerized by the back and forth movements. When they reached the library vent, Jeff squeezed past her with a quick finger to his lips. "He could still be faking." Peering around the corner, he saw Chang in the same position he'd been in before.

Not proof, but not not-proof. Chang sometimes slept in the same position all night. He'd gone to bed with Chang asleep on his couch, arm hanging off, leg dangling, head twisted almost backwards, and woken up to find that he hadn't moved a muscle.

Other times he was all over the place.

"Maybe." Turning back to Annie, not wanting to leave her, but knowing he had to, Jeff sighed. "We should go separately. I'll go through here to draw his attention in case he's faking. You go back to where we came from, double back and sneak out that door." He pointed toward the library.

Pausing for a second, he kissed her again, palm cupping the back of her head as he watched her.

"Who's the call from?"

Straightening her gloves, she looked at him curiously. "What?"

Fakely innocent.

His stomach dropped. "Annie...."

"Quick, before he wakes up." She pushed at him, urging him to go, but Jeff held his ground.

"What aren't you telling me? Is the call from just _anyone_? Someone you could've missed it from and it wouldn't have made a difference? Was all this for nothing?" That was one theory. But there were others pressing into his brain.

Theories he didn't like.

Theories like Danny. And Danny and Annie. Together. Even though he and Annie had just had sex in an air vent at their school. Sure it wasn't the most romantic setting ever, especially for their first time, but that shouldn't matter. They loved one another.

They hadn't fucked.

It wasn't just sex.

They'd made love. He'd made love for the first time in his life.

And she was cheating on him with Danny!

What the fuck?

"It's important," she said, keeping it vague before trying to clarify without actually clarifying. "I mean, it's-- it's a call I need to... or want to take." She rolled her eyes and shook her head a little. "Need to take. But--"

"But what?" he demanded. Her eyes wouldn't focus on him; a hard feat with their foreheads nearly touching. Feeling nausea rise in his throat and belly, he let go of her. "Annie--"

"Let's just get out of here, Jeff. Please." She darted a look down at his watch. "I only have 20 minutes."

A hard knot began to form in place of the nausea. But he didn't push her. "Fine," he agreed, watching her do everything she could to not look his way. "Fine. Ready?"

She nodded, eyes sliding his way for the briefest of moments. "Yeah."

"Go on. I'll wait for three minutes, then go out. I'll meet you outside if I get out. Wait until you see me in the study room before trying to leave."

She nodded, turning to go.

He sighed her name, not wanting to leave things on a bad note, just in case, even if he did feel like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Turning just her head, she lifted her eyes to his. "No, Jeff. Let's just go. We'll make it."

Watching her disappear down the vent and around a corner, he waited three minutes, then quietly made his way to the vent exit. Chang was still still. Jeff was pretty sure he wasn't faking, but Chang was full of surprises. And saws.

Fingers pressing against the vent, Jeff waited until the catch released, then paused. Waiting. Listening. Watching Chang like a hawk. His heart pounded in his chest, thumping loudly enough that Chang should've been able to hear it.

But there was no response from him.

Swinging the vent door all the way open, Jeff crawled out, un-folding his body like a contortionist on a bender. There wasn't a lot of grace in his movements. Once he was out, he stopped to look at Chang, vent door caught in his hand. Chang was out like the clichéd light.

Glancing up, he saw Annie at the doorway, watching him, looking amused at his ungainly display. Narrowing his eyes at her, wishing she hadn't seen that, he pointed at the doors. Hand over her mouth, holding in laughter, she turned and crossed to the doors.

Jeff hurried after her, pace quickening once he was past Chang. He breathed a sigh of relief and ran to Annie. "We made it." Grabbing her hand, he pulled her through the doors, not surprised when the alarms went off, jangling loudly. "Come on," he yelled, dragging her to the right, immediately out of sight.

From there, they ran along the building, hearing Chang shouting above the noise, but his voice grew more and more distant with each step; he was headed toward the other side of the lot.

Jeff pulled Annie behind him to the street, breath panting out and relief flowing through him.

They were free. Finally. It felt like they'd been stuck inside the school for months.

Annie jerked to a stop behind a large oak tree, pulling him with her. She was grinning, full of relief and excitement. Standing up on tiptoe after looking at him for a few seconds, she pressed her mouth to his, then dropped back down, like the night of the Transfer Dance.

Feeling like it was all playing out again, but unable to react differently, he stared back, then drew her in for a kiss. Just as much passion, just as much want and need. But so much more.

"I love you," she breathed against his mouth, warm breath wafting over his lips. "I have for a long time."

"Since that night?" he murmured.

She shrugged a little uncertainly, biting her lip. "I think so. Maybe."

His arms tightened around her as he was transported back to that time, that night; glimmering lights hanging from the library, Britta waiting. Slater watching him.

Annie telling _him_ she was leaving for good, but not the others.

And it occurred to him that maybe he'd loved her for a long time, too. Maybe.

Something had been between them, something more than just a kiss.

"I think I lied," he told her.

Annie's face fell and she started to step back, but he held her still.

"No, not tonight. I mean about the reasons for not answering Britta and Michelle that night." He'd never admitted this even to himself, never told her, never explained about that night, but the words were coming now because he couldn't stand the look on her face. "I figured I was thinking about you so much because you were leaving. I didn't want you to leave, but it was more than that. I mean, I thought-- I thought about you as an alternative to them, to Britta and Michelle. My mind kept returning to you, but I didn't know why. I thought it was just because I wanted a way out of the position they'd put me in. But maybe it was more than that. I mean, _you_ were more than that to me, so why not?"

She smiled softly and he felt his chest tighten at the sight. He loved her smile.

"From that night on, Annie, despite me saying it was a mistake, despite me telling you to forget about it, _I_ haven't been able to forget it."

Her hands were bare again, her gloves nowhere in sight. She caressed his jaw with her thumb and he closed his eyes, leaning into her touch.

"Since then, I've had this fantasy of you and me. Together. Like, in a house, with a damn dog."

"A dog?" she asked bemusedly, probably still on the part where he'd basically admitted to wanting to spend the rest of his life with her. Married or something.

"Yeah." He shrugged, then pulled her along with him to his car. "Come on. I'll give you a ride and we'll come back for your car later. We can't risk getting caught."

"I'm not a dog person," she called to him, amused.

Hand tightening on hers, he opened her door, urging her inside. "I always had you pegged as a dog person. Cats?" He slammed the door and went around, climbing in with a quick glance around for Chang, but there was no sign of him.

"Nope. Not a cat person either."

Relief poured through him. Britta was a cat person and he really didn't need another one of those around, trying to cutesy him to death with the furry little critters and the furry little outfits she put them in. "Turtles? Pigs, maybe? Uh, bovines? Equines?"

"No," she laughed, nudging his shoulder as he pulled into the empty street. "Birds. I like the cages and the way birds sound when they sing. It's beautiful."

Jeff shuddered. "Birds are loud and messy."

She mock-frowned his way. "Dogs bark, drool, crap everywhere, and piss out their territory."

Eyes on the rearview mirror, he glanced her way. Was he really reduced to thinking they were being followed? There was no one back there. They were home free and he was paranoid. "Birds screech, fling birdseed, sing, and screech some more."

"Birds," she insisted with a playful grin. "I want ten of them."

He couldn't help the smile that lifted his lips. "Dogs. One big, huge one."

"Are you bird-dogging me?" she asked in her best De Niro. It was adorable. When he just nudged her shoulder, an audible sigh left her and she stretched, hands on her thighs. "This is what happy feels like."

A half-smile curved one side of his mouth as warmth poured into his heart. "I make you happy? God, he was turning into a sappy romantic. It was disgusting.

Annie turned in her seat, duh look on her face. "Jeff. _Yes_. I-- you've been my best friend for going on three years and now--"

"Now?"

"Now, you're more. I love you. And? I get to actually tell you that now." She leaned over, seat creaking, and planted a kiss on his cheek.

He tossed her a quick look and a smile, feeling the same way she felt. Free and unencumbered. The worry and the constant vigilance had weighed heavily on him, but now that was gone. "I lo--"

Her phone began to ring and her eyes widened almost comically. That wasn't unencumbered. That wasn't free. That was worry, and it was aimed his way. She stared at her phone, then him.

Jeff pulled the car over, then turned off the engine as her phone continued to ring. "Gonna answer that? Or is it a telepathic call? And, if that's the case, why did you need your phone so badly?"

"Jeff," she chastised, glancing at her phone. "I--" She yanked on the door handle and pushed it open as she answered her phone, leaving the car at the same time. All Jeff could hear was 'hello' before the door slammed shut.

And he was fine with that.

It probably wasn't Danny.

She smiled a little, listening, not paying him any attention anymore.

And he was fine with that.

Danny was probably home in bed, curled around a sock with Annie's name on it--

Hands wrapping around the steering wheel, he watched her chuckle.

Fine with it.

Smile wider.

Fucking fine.

Twirl her hair!

Not fine with that.

Opening his car door, he got out, eyes fixed on Annie's fingers. Still twirling.

"...home." Pause. "Yes, I'm alone." She sounded almost annoyed, almost indulgent. "No, I don't have a boyfriend, Danny--"

He grabbed the phone from her, ignoring her startled cry. "Actually, yes, she does have a boyfriend. And she's out with him right now. You see, we just had sex--"

"Jeff! What are you doing? Give me the phone!" She made a desperate grab for it, but he was taller. He used his elbow to block her.

"--and we're going to have even more sex when we get home."

"Oh, my god." She paced away quickly, then came back, hands over her forehead. "No, we're not if you don't give me that phone!"

"Who the hell is this?" Jeff heard in his ear.

Jeff held his hand over the phone speaker. "The hell, Annie?"

"Jeff, _please_ , just give me back my phone!"

"Yeah, I don't think so." Uncovering the speaker, feeling like she'd... _cheated_ on him while he stood there and watched, he stayed out of Annie's reach. "And it was some pretty great sex, I might add--"

Annie squeaked loudly.

"We're planning on having more. Really soon." Although, with the way she was alternately glaring at him and looking hurt, he doubted that part was true. Why was she-- this guy was-- "What the hell, Annie? You fuck me while waiting for a call from Danny the Dumb?"

Unbelievable.

"No," she snapped, slapping him hard across the chest. Really hard. It wasn't a fond smack, it was pissed off, bang-his-head-onto-the-table angry. And then she hit him again.

"Ow!"

"I don't know who you are, but you'd better put my--"

Jeff lowered the phone, watching Annie with a frown, not quite sure he was in command of the situation anymore. Or if he was reading it right. His judgment when it came to Annie and other men was iffy at best.

Leap first, ask questions never.

He could no longer hear the ramblings of Danny, and he was grateful. If he didn't hear what Danny and Annie were up to, then he didn't have to know the details of what had been going on between the two.

While she supposedly loved him.

That's what hurt the most, and it _did_ hurt. It was fucking painful. His chest felt like it was being tied into impossible knots and his insides were strangling him, all while Annie blithely ignored him.

It wasn't that she'd been with someone else, in whatever capacity. It wasn't that she'd found someone while he'd ignored her and pushed his feelings for her down as deep as they would go and then told her to pretend nothing had ever happened between them. She was entitled to date whoever the hell she wanted.

Even Danny.

He'd slept with a lot of women over the years since knowing Annie, even while he had feelings for her.

So, it wasn't any of that. It was that she was talking to Danny now, flirting with him. And twirling her damn hair like they hadn't just had sex and started down the path to some kind of a relationship.

It was that she'd lied to him about Danny when he asked her who the call was from, it was that she'd slept with _him_ while fucking some other guy.

Fuck!

Annie glanced at him, tears in her eyes, face flushed and hot, hair sticking to her heated skin, hand over her mouth. She looked furious.

Rational thought snapped back into his head and he hung up the phone, heading toward her. "Annie--"

"Don't!" She backed away, looking at him like he'd hurt her. "That was..." she barely got the words out. Her voice broke and the tears fell. "That was my _dad_ , Jeff. And you just-- oh, god." She bent over, beginning to hyperventilate.

Jeff stared at her.

Holy crap.

His jealousy had gotten him into trouble before with both Annie and Britta, but this? Holy crap didn't quite cover it.

He stood, frozen, staring at Annie. At what he'd done to her; how he'd hurt her, humiliated her. What the hell was wrong with him? Crap. Her dad? Starting toward her, unsure of what the hell he was going to say or do, he jerked to a stop when her phone began to ring. He stared down at it like it was shrink-wrapped in the plague.

Annie's head darted up and she stared at the phone. "Oh, my god," she moaned. "I-- I can't."

Jeff swallowed thickly and exhaled. This was on him. He'd fix it. Pressing the call button, he answered, voice neutral. "Hello."

Annie's eyes were wide enough to pop out of her head.

"Sir, before you, rightfully, yell and--"

"Rip you a new one, son?"

"Yes. Um, sir. Uh, this was a joke. A badly done joke that I was playing on your daughter. We're at-- we go to Greendale together?" He winced at the sound of his voice rising at the end. He could sell an idea, sell a defense, and usually had juries eating out of his hands in a courtroom, but Annie's dad made him nervous. He'd faced countless judges and sold, not only ridiculous defenses, but his own law degree, to all of them.

But he didn't think he was selling his lame excuse to Annie's dad.

Crap.

Annie still looked hurt and furious. And scared.

"You thought that was funny?"

She furiously wiped the tears from her cheeks and drew in a steadying breath.

"Uh... no? I mean, when I thought you were a guy who's been bugging her to go out with him, sort of, yeah." Annie sent him a 'what the fuck are you doing?' look. He shrugged helplessly, shaking his head, mouthing, 'I don't know' back at her and she stomped toward him, taking the phone from him.

"Dad." She motioned Jeff to stay there and went a few yards away.

Jeff couldn't hear much of what she was saying, but he got the gist. A lot of yes, sirs and no, sirs. He felt like crap. What the hell was wrong with him? He wasn't _that_ guy.

Except that he was.

Vaughn. Rich. The Black Rider. Abed. Every one of those men had made him furious with jealousy. The Black Rider had had his not-so-good-looking hands all over Annie. Jeff had gone home the night after their victory, gotten drunk and composed several mocking texts to Annie; he was still surprised she'd forgiven him, though their first week back, she _had_ asked him to stop being her friend. That'd kind of come out of the blue.

Just his irrational behavior with an axe? Or residual anger over him telling her she'd fall for any man who flirted with her?

Probably both and deservedly so. He'd been an ass to her.

"Yes, dad. ...yes. No, I-- dad, it's not... no. No, dad. Daddy!"

Jeff groaned. Daddy sounded a hell of a lot like Danny.

Annie stopped and took a deep breath. "Dad, stop trying to run my life," she told him in a low voice.

Then she hung up and turned her phone off.

Her eyes were on the still bright display when she rejoined him. "SO." She looked up at him with eyes filled with acceptance. "My father doesn't like you."

Jeff acknowledged that with a nod. He couldn't say he was upset, since he didn't know the man, but from hearing Annie's side of the conversation, he wanted to tell her good riddance. But he didn't. He felt guilty enough already.

She took another deep breath, raising her eyes to his. "And neither do I right now. I mean, what if that _had_ been Danny?"

"Then I'd react the same way." He stared at her in disbelief. "You were flirting. I mean, twirling your hair? Really?"

"Ew. Jeff. Gross!"

"Yeah, kinda."

"No! I mean. Ugh. Jeff, that's not--" Visually calming herself with a deep breath and a quick closing of her eyes, she loosened her shoulders. "That's not my point. You can't just grab my phone and tell random people that we're having sex. It's sort of... douche-y."

While he had to admit she was right, he still felt justified. "Well, Annie, you can't flirt with random men on the phone after we just made love. That's _also_ douche-y."

"It was my dad! You read too much into it. God, you can't keep doing that. What you did was beyond Rich and Vaughn. It was-- you had no right to do that."

"Uh, I call bullshit. You're my..." He struggled for a word, a phrase, something that didn't sound ineffectual and wrong.

She crossed her arms and shrugged her whole body. "What, Jeff? Yeah, we had sex, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything!"

He blinked at her. He had to have misheard her, right? She couldn't be reducing what they'd done to mere sex. Okay, it hadn't been great for their first time. There'd been some issues, but. "Sex? We had _sex_ , Annie?" Staring at her, even now finding her gorgeous in the moonlight that shone through the trees, he mentally slapped himself for getting sidetracked. "That-- I didn't-- that wasn't just-- sex, Annie? Really?"

"You don't believe in love."

Shoe effectively dropped.

"You said it yourself." Her wide eyes were filled with doubts and he hated that.

How could she possibly doubt him now?

"So, what, I'm supposed to just take your word for it that suddenly you're in love?"

"That's called trust, Annie, which is something I do believe in. And, for the record, just because I don't believe in something doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It doesn't even mean that I can't eventually be proven wrong about it." He frowned down at her. "Where's this coming from suddenly? You were fine about us before, but now you think I'm a liar?"

"You're a liar, yes. Absolutely, Jeff." Dropping her arms, she tucked her hair behind one ear. "We all know you lie. You tell us you lie."

"Okay, while true, that doesn't mean I'm lying about this. And, you know, you've been known to lie too. Just wanted to get that out there."

"Right," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "Because I'm the one who's lied about there being anything between us. I'm the one who has a habit of running when things get too real between us. That's all me. Yep, I--"

"Sarcasm _can_ be abused, Annie."

She just stared back at him.

Exhaling heavily, he threw his arms out, at a loss as to how to prove himself to her. She was right; there was no reason for her to believe him. "Before tonight, we were friends. Good friends. One might even say best friends. That's also something I said I didn't believe in, right?"

"Yeah." Her posture loosened the slightest bit, but she wasn't giving in completely. She wasn't going to make this easy for him, and she probably shouldn't.

"Troy and Abed? They couldn't be more best-friend-y if they tried. I believe in that. I believe in them."

There was the smallest, itty-bitty-bittiest curving of her lips upward.

There was the smallest, itty-bitty-bittiest answering relief in his chest, which loosened enough to let him breathe again. He hadn't even realized how tense he'd become.

"Annie, just as I've opened myself up to new experiences and new things since meeting you guys and learning to love you all individually, I also very recently decided to open myself up to letting my feelings for you actually register inside my thick head. I can't pretend that I don't love you anymore, and I don't want to." He stepped a little closer, feeling her warmth, smelling her familiar scents.

She dropped her stiff posture with a sigh. "So, where does that leave us then?"

"I don't know. Lovers? Boyfriend/girlfriend, which sounds so juvenile that I can almost smell the paste and glitter."

Her eyes softened a little and, sensing an opening, he drew her in for a hug. Relief poured through him completely when she relaxed against him and he let his shoulders loosen. "Jeff, I love you. And you--"

"Yeah. I do, Annie. I am in love with you, and, admittedly, still freaking out about that a little, but I told you, I'm in this thing with you, wherever it takes us."

She wrapped her arms around his waist. "How about we just try that for a while then, before we decide where this is heading, if anywhere. Just-- I don't think I can do this tonight. I'm tired and my nerves are shot, plus I'm still freaking out about my dad. This whole night has been... a disaster."

He felt like she'd punched him in the gut.

"Oh, god, Jeff. Not _us_. Obviously not us."

"How did you--"

She set her hand on his arm, which was wrapped around her back. "You're squishing me."

Releasing his tight hold, he chuckled and settled his lips on the top of her head. "Sorry."

"It's fine. Except when I need to breathe." She drew back and grinned at him. "But seriously, I should probably get home before Troy and Abed start to worry." Her smile grew. "Though, it's sweet that they do."

Jeff's arms tightened around her again, but not suffocating-ly so. "We all worry about you."

He heard the smile in her voice. "I know."

"For the record, why didn't you just tell me the call you were waiting for was from your dad?" It'd have saved them both so much time and him so much fucked-upedness.

"Mnf wnm menabmamsd."

"What?" He lifted her face from his chest.

"I said I was embarrassed. My parents kind of suck." She shrugged and pulled free as far as he'd let her. He kept a loose hold on her, irrationally afraid she'd run away from him. "I didn't want you to know... I mean, it's stupid now after everything, but." She sighed heavily, brushing her hair from her forehead when the wind kicked up. "My mom called me out of the blue the other day to tell me that my dad's in China."

She paused, wide-eyed, looking at him as if he was supposed to be as shocked as she was.

"Okay."

"Well!" She shrugged heavily. "My dad doesn't go to China. He doesn't go anywhere. But mom said he was in China and wanted to talk to me. She said it sounded important. They don't even really talk anymore since the divorce, but since I cut myself off from them, they go through each other to communicate with me."

"Sounds fun."

"Really fun. I'm the go-between when they argue, and they're tag-team guilt machines when I don't do what they want. I got tired of it and I'd planned this big conversation with my dad, in my head, where I told him and my mom to leave me the hell alone."

"Did I ruin it?" He gazed down the empty street, watching a piece of torn paper blow across the lanes. It still amazed him how dead Greendale could sometimes be. Dead enough that his and Annie's entire conversation and argument had gone un-observed, even on a city street in the middle of town.

"No. All it took was him demanding I move back in with them after you so elegantly told him about my personal life." She rolled her eyes at him, chin on his chest. "But they weren't there for me when I needed them, so... they can live without me until they decide they want to be a part of my life in more ways than forcing me to talk to them."

"Good for you."

"It felt good to get that off my chest."

"Yeah, it probably would've felt better if I hadn't nearly ruined it. I'm sorry, Annie. I shouldn't have grabbed the phone; it was beyond stupid."

"Yeah, it was."

He kissed her forehead, then the top of her head. "I'm really sorry."

Hugging him briefly, she rested her cheek against his chest. "You should be."

"And you shouldn't be embarrassed about your family. We all have fucked up families to some degree. At least your father wasn't a drunken, abusive, conman who left your mom when you were six."

"Yeah." Her arms tightened again.

"And he's not a creepy, racist Colonel Sanders. I hope?"

"No," she countered, smoothing her hand down his chest in a comforting manner. "He's just a racist, uncaring, emotionally uptight jerk who cares more about reputation than family, just like dear old mom."

"How did we ever manage to end up halfway sane?"

"We might not be. Or one of us might not be anyway."

He chuckled.

Annie sighed against his chest. "It felt really good standing up to him. I mean, when they decided I shouldn't go to rehab, I stopped talking to them, but I didn't let go completely. It's been a rough few years between us. They still demand that I do things their way, and they're always trying to manipulate me into doing them, like this call with mom being all cryptic and hinting that something might be wrong."

"My mom's pretty good with the guilt too. Why do you think I haven't told her I was disbarred and had to go back to school?"

"Because you avoid any and all forms of work and that would've made you make more of an effort than you like?"

"No," he mockingly growled. "Her guilt is a mighty, mighty thing."

"Parents suck."

"Pretty much." Jeff inhaled, enjoying the feeling of having her in his arms without guilt, without the need to hide his responses to her. Without interruption. They stayed wrapped around one another for another minute before Annie spoke.

"I really should go."

"No, you should come home with me. Annie, I don't want us to go our separate ways and then have to plan a time to talk to you in order to discuss our new relationship. I want to be _in_ our new relationship." He placed a kiss on the top of her head, staring down the darkened street. Lips near her ear, he whispered huskily, "I want to be in _you_.

She shivered and he felt her drop a little in his embrace, like her knees had gone out. Her nails clawed into his back and he thought that maybe he was right; her legs had given out. "You know how to say all the right things," she whispered thickly.

He drew back, looking at her, observing her. Things were too tense between them, too filled with tension of so many kinds; sexual tension, anger, frustration, awkwardness. Seeking to lighten the mood, he let a leer slide up his lips. "Hey, sweetheart, wanna go back to my place and--"

"Don't ruin it," she laughed, swatting at his chest.

"--play--"

"If you say 'hide the salami' or 'hide the sausage' I'm leaving you alone to play with yourself tonight."

"Wanna watch?" His voice was just as thick as hers, though wickedness had crept in.

Her laughter died, smile frozen on her lips. "More than anything," she breathed and his cock twitched. "Do you wanna..." she trailed off, leaving him to finish the sentence in his head.

He held his hand out flat at waist level. "This? Is me getting my career back. This?" His other hand flew up, stretching all the way, three feet or more past his head. "Is how much I want to watch you play with yourself." He grabbed her, holding her close so she could feel him hardening. "And this is what you do to me."

"I wish I had hardening body parts as proof of how much I want you, but alas, I just... get so wet." Her eyes dropped to his lips, lashes fluttering against her pale cheeks before rising back to his eyes. They were heated and lust-filled.

He leaned down for a kiss, slow and--

She pulled away from him, putting some space between them.

"No-- we shouldn't... right now. Not before we deal with your jealousy. The-- you can't keep doing this, Jeff. Your jealousy is a problem. That phone call could easily have been from a college recruiter. Or it could've been my boss. Or, oh, I don't know... my dad?"

Anger poured off of him because he'd lost what he so badly wanted. Her warmth was gone, her soft body and flowery scent were too far away and not coming back soon enough. "Then stop flirting with your father. And if any recruiter or boss got that kind of response, then they'd have a lawsuit on their hands."

"You'd know."

"Evil lawyer joke, perfect zinger." He rolled his eyes and leaned against his car.

"Jeff... why do you keep doing it? Are you always this jealous with your--"

"No." He sighed, losing most of the anger, realizing that she was well within her rights to ask him what the hell was wrong with his insane jealous streak. Pushing away from his car, he took her by her arms, which were crossed over her body like she was cold. "Look. Annie. I don't know why I get so jealous with you. Probably because my actual feelings are involved and we're not just... all the other women I've slept with? That was just sex."

She gave him a hard look and he knew he wasn't going to like where the conversation went next.

"Really, Jeff? Britta? Slater? Come on, you were jealous of Vaughn when Britta was with him."

Granted. "Not like I was when you were with him. I--" He closed his eyes, sighing heavily before opening them again, feeling the little white lie in his stomach. It was true that he'd been jealous of Britta and Vaughn, very jealous, but that'd been before-- they hadn't... it was different for them then. And he actually had been more jealous of Vaughn and Annie, he just hadn't realized why at the time.

Not completely.

Annie didn't look convinced.

"You were so!"

"Not like with you," he insisted truthfully, shrugging. "Like Britta said, I didn't want his stupid, hippie hands anywhere near you. I thought up a billion scenarios for stopping him from touching you."

"Yeah, but that was because you thought Vaughn was too old for me."

"No."

"Because you and I had kissed--"

"No. Well, partially. Annie, I've only ever been like this about you."

She pointed at him as if he'd lied and she'd just caught him. "Pierce said you were unhappy after seeing Slater with another guy."

"True. But that was ego and pride more than--"

"Bullshit! Jeff, why can't you just admit you're a jealous guy?"

"Because I'm not! Except with you."

"Am I supposed to feel special? Flattered? Because I don't. Mostly, I just feel tired. If this is what it's going to be like all the time, being with you... then I don't think I can--"

"Annie, don't." He sounded more pleading than he liked, but he didn't care. "I'll stop. Short of you, I don't know, sleeping with someone else, I'll keep my mouth shut. I swear. Mum's the word from now on." The desperate tone of his voice seemed to have an impact on her, because she sighed and looked into his eyes. He felt like she was looking into his soul.

Hopefully, she'd like what she s--

She kissed him, standing on tiptoe, nothing touching him but her lips. "Three chances."

"Mmm." Threading his hands into her hair, he drew her closer, unable to keep from touching her any longer.

"I mean it, Jeff. Three strikes and I'm gone."

Lips warm and wet from hers, he nodded. "Okay. But, for the record, I'm fine with you getting jealous. I'm fact, I intend to flirt with the dean just to rile you up."

"Jeff!" She smacked him; he was beginning to love the way she hit him.

He was sick.

"Don't you dare!"

He smiled. "Jealous?"

"No. I just don't want you leading the dean on. It's mean."

"Maybe, but it'll be worth it.

"No, it won't. I'm never going to be jealous of the dean. Really. Never."

He snickered quietly.

"Go on, snicker all you want, but I'm not going to get jealous."

"Uh-huh."

Hugging him tighter, she breathed deep and relaxed her shoulders. "I guess we could go to your place. I'll just call Troy and Abed and tell them I'm staying with my cousin or something."

"Great. There's something there that I want you to see."

"It's your bed, isn't it?"

He fought a grin, but lost the battle. She rolled her eyes.

"Let's get my car first. I'll need it to go home and change in the morning. And I have Bio notes in it."

"You're planning on studying?" he asked incredulously, pulling back to stare at her. "I'm pretty sure you're going to be busy. Very busy. All night."

She snorted, heading around the car to the passenger side. "Got a _lot_ of confidence in your prowess, don't you?"

"A lot," he agreed.


	5. Chapter 5

Jeff pulled up alongside the street he'd parked on earlier in the evening. God, just an hour and a half ago, but so much had happened since then, so many things, that he felt like a billion years had passed.

"Looks clear." Jeff turned toward her, arm on the back of his seat. "I'll wait here, just in case Chang's looking out the window. Keep to the shadows and he shouldn't be able to see you."

"Right. Stealthy is _still_ my middle name."

"Pretty sure it's not." His hand dropped to her hair, cupping the back of her head. Leaning forward, he brought her closer as she moved forward. "Be careful." Eyes on her mouth, he pressed a firm kiss there. Then to her forehead. His hand slid down to her cheek; he definitely couldn't control himself.

His hand just kept touching her wherever it wanted to.

"Hurry," he murmured. "The sooner we're done here, the faster we can--"

"Sex, sex, sex. Is that all you think about?" But she was smiling, fingers absently drawing circles on his thigh.

"When it comes to you? Actually, no."

Her whole face transformed into the look she got when he got it right. "Aww."

"Go," he mumbled, sitting back in his seat, half afraid he was blushing.

"Softy." She smiled, yanked open the door and got out, quietly shutting it behind her like she expected Chang to suddenly appear.

 

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

Crouching down behind Jeff's car, Annie peered around, checking out the street, the lot, then the school. Everything was silent and still. 

Too still.

Glancing back at Jeff, she huffed when he rolled his eyes at her and relaxed in his seat, folding his hands under his head and leaning back. Whatever. She was just being cautious. Still, she felt kind of stupid, so she straightened--most of the way--and ran the distance between Jeff's car and her own.

She was parked in the shadows of the back part of the lot, half-hidden behind a bush and a tree. She'd hoped to get out with no one the wiser, but then Jeff had shown up and that went out the window... or, in the window and into the dean's office.

Annie was convinced that Chang had a thing for Jeff. He seemed to delight in either befriending or hating Jeff. It was always either/or with those two.

Tonight, Chang had apparently chosen hate.

The taunts he'd thrown their way hadn't been revelations, exactly, but hearing them spoken aloud by someone else, someone almost neutral in their circle, had been a weird experience.

Ducking down behind her car, she eyed the school again. Nothing was moving as far as she could see.

Yanking her keys free from her body suit, she quickly circled around to the--

"Aha!"

Annie jerked back with a hand to her chest, staring at Chang, who was crouched on the other side of her car like a... a... sigh. A tiger. El Tigre. "Chang! What-- wh-- uh. Why are you hiding back there?"

Chang straightened up and strode toward her, staring at her, eyes narrowing. "As if you don't know."

"Um, I don't. I just came to..." Uh-oh, she felt a ramble coming on. "To pick up my car. I left it here earlier. We just came back to get it. Jeff took me home." She cursed her inability to think quickly under pressure.

Chang stared at her suspiciously. "Why would he do that? He never took me home. Even when I was living with him."

"To have sex! We had sex." She nodded a few times, knowing she was overselling it, but unable to stop herself.

Chang moved closer as Jeff pulled toward the lot entrance, heading for them.

Was-- ew!

Chang was sniffing her!

Ew, ew, ew!

"What's with the skintight, black outfit then, Annie? Huh? You look suspiciously like you're dressed to break into somewhere. Like, say, the _school_?"

Crap. "Role playing!" She glanced down at herself, feeling naked under his observant eye. Stretching the black material away from her hip, then her stomach, she shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, Jeff, uh, he loves... Catwoman." Aha. She could think under pressure just fine, thankyouverymuch! "Yeah. He, uh--"

"Right." Chang wasn't buying it. And Jeff was almost there. If he got there and Chang questioned him, he could ruin her story and their entire quest would've been for nothing. Chang looked skeptically at her, eyeing her up and down.

"Yeah. Really. Just like I love it when, um, Jeff dresses up as... as, um, a cowboy."

Chang rolled his eyes. "Jeff's in spurs more than the dean Chang-s outfits."

"Yeah," she laughed breathlessly, trying to convey arousal, but she knew it was coming off more like spaz. "Whoo! I can barely keep my hands off of him when he does. Sexy."

Jeff's car pulled up beside them in the aisle. He didn't bother to park in a space. Opening the door, he unfolded himself from his prized Lexus and joined them. "Chang."

"Tex."

Jeff stared at Chang. "Okay."

Annie motioned for him to just go along with it, but it might've come off more like a jerking-off motion. Which wouldn't be the first time.

Jeff's eyes widened at her and he had to drag them from her to Chang. "Are you helping her to her car? That's sweet. But I've got it."

"No, I'm interrogating a prisoner, idiot."

"No, you're not." Shoving his hands into his jean pockets, he stared Chang down. "What's the problem now? We just came to get Annie's car, which she left here earlier. Is there a law against that? The answer you're searching for, by the way, would be no."

Chang's suspicious gaze stayed squarely on Jeff as he stalked toward him, passing Annie with a 'stay there' motion. "Why'd you give her a ride, Jeff, huh?"

Not staying where he'd motioned her to, Annie opened her mouth to answer, but Chang cut her off. "Not you, B. of A.. Jeff."

"Really not your business."

"Answer the question, Winger."

Annie glared at him, willing him to just answer the question so they could get out of there and be done with the whole night.

Jeff rolled his eyes and sighed. "We went to my place." His eyes darted to Annie's and she nodded almost imperceptibly, biting her lip and making the universal sign for sex; pointer finger through circled fingers. "To have sex."

"Yeah, she told me about your freaky-deaky sex games. Tell me, Jeff, who did Annie role play as? And if you get this wrong, I'm so going to arrest you." He stepped closer, trying to stare Jeff down, but, being a few feet shorter, it was impossible. "Who, Jeff?"

Annie held a hand up like a claw and mouthed a meow. Chang snapped his head around and she turned it into a wide yawn. "Ohh, sorry. Tired. Jeff really wore me out. I could use a _cat_ nap."

Jeff smirked and relaxed under her praise, false though it was. His ego, god. "Well, maybe if you stopped dressing like a... cat... woman?"

She nodded enthusiastically while still managing to roll her eyes.

"Ugh! That was a gimme. But this one, Jeff..." Chang pointed at Jeff's chest, punctuating each word with a poke of his finger. "Why aren't you wearing your costume?"

"Ah, well, she can't keep her hands off of me when I do." He shrugged nonchalantly. "And I needed to drive."

Annie held her hands up like pistols, rolling her eyes at his explanation. Sure, make her sound like a nympho. Tipping an imaginary hat, she finger-shot Chang.

Jeff shrugged, a swagger somehow in his stance. Hard to do. "We've gone through four cowboy outfits already. Tears 'em off, every time."

Chang looked a little more willing to believe them and Annie felt guilty. Still, it was Chang. "Not on my couch," Chang half-whispered, sounding betrayed and hurt at the very thought of them defiling his former bed. Um.

"Oh, definitely. On _my_ couch. My bed. My kitchen counter. My table."

Chang gasped. "We ate there. And you two defiled it? I thought... I thought we meant something, Jeff."

"Uh, you sawed the legs off my tables. You put shrimp in my bathtub. And I woke up one morning to find a stuffed tiger sitting on the end of my bed. Staring at me."

"He was protecting you!"

"He was watching me sleep!" Jeff paused, shaking his head as if he'd said something stupid. "Ugh. Look. Chang. Annie's getting her car and you're going to let us leave here."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because you have no reason to stop us."

"Try again."

"Fine. Because I have pictures of you. Playing with your light saber."

"Ew!" Annie squealed, moving away from both of them.

Jeff rolled his eyes. "His flashlight, Annie." He stared at her. "Seriously?"

"I don't know!"

Jeff slowly dragged his gaze from her, turning to face Chang down. "Well?"

"Those old things?" he said dismissively, waving his hand impatiently with a snort. "I posted those on YouTube last year, Winger. Two-hundred-thousand hits." He lunged his upper body at Jeff, arms back, all attitude. "Booyah, bitch."

Jeff blinked at Chang, darting his eyes to Annie briefly with a look that told her he was at a loss. "Annie, get your car. Chang, get out of the way."

"Or what?" Chang stepped into Jeff's personal space, staring darkly up at him. "What are you going to do, Jeff? Sic your girlfriend on me--"

"He doesn't have to," Annie whispered, sidling up behind him and grabbing him by the waist. Chang went still, eyes wide, not even daring to breathe. "You never should've told me about your ticklish spots. Now. Let us go or I attack."

"Uhh..."

Annie didn't bother looking at Jeff. "First year, before you busted the door down to save me. Chang and I had a chat." She straightened her curled fingers into Chang's side for a second, making him wince and draw in a deep, breathy gasp. "We don't want to stand here all night and argue with you. We just came for my car. Now we're going back to Jeff's place to have a lot of sex. All over the couch and the floor and his bed and the wall and--"

"Ugh! I don't care!" Chang attempted to move out of her grip, but she tightened her hands around him. "Someone broke into the school, I'm just trying to find him." His eyes darted behind him. "Or her."

"Wasn't us."

"Not us."

"Sex," Annie repeated.

"Lots of sex."

"You know, Annie's outfit has this opening--"

"Jeff!" She glared hard at him, shaking her head as if to ask him what the hell he was doing. "Not important."

"Not to you maybe. But--"

"Oh, my god, will you two shut up?" Chang jerked out of Annie's grip and turned to face them, pointing from one to the other. "I'm going to find out who it was, no matter what. Got that? Got. That? Now, go. Leave me be. You're free to go... for now! I have an investigation to conduct."

He stomped off, leaving them behind.

Annie grinned at Jeff and grabbed his arm, jumping up and down excitedly. "He bought it," she squealed in a low whisper.

Chang turned so suddenly that she dropped down on Jeff's foot. Jeff grinned stiffly and kissed Annie, ushering her to her car.

"Go, before he changes his mind."

"Don't you mean 'Changs his mind?" Annie bit her lip, eyes shining with mirth.

"No. I really, really don't."

She snickered, feeling a weight lift off of her chest. The night was finally over.

 

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

"Whoa." Jeff halted Annie as they approached the library. A team in jumpsuits crossed in front of him and Annie, doing a power walk. Jeff recognized a few of them. "Leonard! What's going on?"

Leonard stopped and looked down his nose at Jeff. "We have a crime to solve, Winger. We finally get to put our Dimensions in Crime Texts studies to practical use!" He hurried after the rest of the group, Jeff and Annie following behind.

"Pop-pop!"

Jeff gave Magnitude a halfhearted nod and smile.

"Jeff," Annie said in a low, nervous voice, grabbing his arm. "They have the vents blocked off!"

"I can see that."

There were huge paper signs taped above the vents with sloppy printing on them written in Sharpie:

_**Dusting for fingerprints! Stay out!** _

"Oh. Oh." She grabbed his arm and dragged him to the side, wide eyes watching Leonard, Garrett, and Magnitude disappear into the vents. "They're dusting for fingerprints," she hissed, squeezing his arm, fingernails digging into his skin, even over his shirt. "Jeff, they're going to find--"

"You wore gloves." He turned her head to face him, dragging her attention from the team disappearing inside amid grunts and groans.

Her hands twisted in front of her, fingers pulling and tugging at one another. "But you didn't!"

"I was in there at the beginning of the year, remember? My prints are all over those vents for all they know. Chang can't prove otherwise, so relax, Annie. Plus, it's Chang." He glanced past her at the group inside the study room. "We're fine. No one will ever know we were here. And, I think we have worse things to worry about."

Stopping in front of the double doors, they stood side-by-side, looking in at their friends.

Annie swallowed thickly past the lump in her throat. "Okay... okay. So. I guess there's nothing left to do except go in and tell them."

"Yeah."

She nodded decisively, then couldn't stop. "Tell them that we're now... a couple." She tossed him a look at his raised brow. "Or whatever. That we're dating."

"Are we?"

"Well!" She threw her arms out in frustration. "I don't know what to say or call us or--"

"Deep breaths, Annie." He took her by her shoulders and shook her a little, amusement lighting his eyes. "Breathe a little."

"I can't help it, Jeff. What happened last night was so quick and we never talked about it. We just... went home and had more sex! All over your apartment. And--"

"Annie. We'll just say we're lovers. That we're going out." Now he looked uncertain. "Is that juvenile? That sounds juvenile."

"Maybe because you still feel like you're robbing the cradle and I'm the giant little baby in the crib that you just stole and this is never going to work!" She turned and stormed off, heading toward the exit, but Jeff's hand grasped hers, halting her.

"Annie." He pulled her aside, out of the way of three other students. "That doesn't even make any sense."

She dropped her head to his shoulder with a groan. "I know. I'm just nervous. And scared. Shirley's going to hate me."

"Shirley won't hate you. If she hates anyone, it'll be me." He grinned winningly. "But she won't last long against this." He gestured to his face, his smile. "I mean, come on."

Annie rolled her eyes, but relaxed some. She was freaking out over nothing. Well, next to nothing. Well, no, it was a lot of something, because their friends were really judgmental and-- Britta! Britta would accuse her of stealing another one of her boyfriends just like Vaughn and then she'd probably stop talking to her.

"Stop thinking so much." He pressed a quick kiss to her forehead and then stood back a respectable distance. "Relax, deep breaths, and let's just go in there and get it over with."

Nodding repeatedly, she drew in breath after breath, having to slow down before she hyperventilated. "Okay. Let's do this."

Jeff took her hand, took a deep breath, and they headed in--

"Wait!" Annie jerked him to a stop, pulling him further aside. "Cowbell?"

Jeff chuckled and scratched his jaw. "It's a Saturday Night Live sketch."

She shook her head, still not clear. "Huh?"

"Uh, Christopher Walken, Blue Oyster Cult, Don't Fear the Reaper? He keeps demanding that the band add more cowbell to the song."

"...ohhh kay."

Rolling his eyes, Jeff shifted in place. "It's just something I think to myself when I feel like I'm dealing with too much at once and need to dial it back."

"So, it's happened a total of twice then?" She snickered and rocked on her heels when he lightly pushed her from him.

"Last night, I had a revelation. About you and how I feel about you. And Chang was... annoying and we were trying to escape. We were trapped in a tiny closet with an aphrodisiac. And--"

"Okay, okay. I guess that makes sense. Sort of. Maybe." Taking another deep breath, she kissed him quickly, just a peck, but it helped relax her somewhat. She turned and faced the group once again, noticing Britta turning to glance their way.

"You guys are never going to believe what happened last night," Britta said excitedly, while Shirley practically bounced in her seat.

"Ready for the pouncing of our friends?" Annie whispered out of the side of her mouth.

"Why are you guys holding hands?" Abed asked curiously as only Abed could.

"As I'll ever be," Jeff whispered back.

"Holy. Crap."

"Uhhh, why are you two-- oh, my god!"

"Jeff, come on. You're using Annie as a beard now? That's low."

"Jeffrey Tobias Winger!"

Tightening her hand on his, taking that first relationship step, Annie waited for Jeff to take it with her.

And he did.

 

THE END


End file.
